Rev. George Edward Thompson

George Edward Thompson passed peacefully in his sleep at Beacon Place in Greensboro on January 30, 2025, after a hard fought battle with heart failure. He was a beloved husband, devoted father, grandfather, conscientious pastor, and intensely devoted servant to the church. He was born in Charlotte, N.C. on April 8, 1943, during World War II, the second son of Albert G. Thompson, Sr., and Ruth Barnes Thompson. He was baptized at First Methodist Church in Charlotte on July 4th, 1943. Following the war and his father’s temporary employment at the Shell Plant in the city, his family moved to the county (Rutherford) of the Thompson ancestry in the Piedmont town of Forest City. He and his family became active members of First Methodist Church where he became a conscientious scout in the BSA program, earned the “God and Country Award,” and responded to the divine call to ordained ministry. In Forest City, he attended the same elementary school where his mother had earlier taught and Cool Springs High School, previously attended by his father upon the school’s year of inception. It was here that he met in 1957 the love of his life, Patricia Ann Harrill, who resided in nearby Bostic. He was a student leader, serving as President of his Freshman and Sophomore classes as well as President of the Student Body during his senior year, voted “Best All Around” by his classmates in 1961.

Upon his graduation from Cool Springs, he matriculated at Pfeiffer College, a Methodist institution of higher education, in order to pursue his vocational calling to be an ordained minister. Here he received inspirational academic guidance from several extraordinary professors and was awarded several academic scholarships which lead him to a life-long commitment to serving the interests of this institution. He majored in history, minored in philosophy, studied Greek and German, and received a passion for scholarly pursuits in the study of theology. Upon his graduation in 1965, he and Pat were married in his home church—First Methodist of Forest City—and he began his theological studies at Duke Divinity. As a “Merit Scholar,” he concentrated in the study of Christian theology under the tutelage of Dean Robert Cushman, Fredrick Herzog, and visiting professor Jurgen Moltmann. His graduation in June of 1968 occurred just weeks following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and a campus-wide demonstration on behalf of racial justice.

Rev. Dr. Thompson was ordained a deacon in 1967 and full-connection elder in 1969 at Lake Junaluska by Bishop Earl Hunt. He and Pat were, subsequently, a team-in-ministry for the following thirty-five years at the following parishes: Wingate Circuit of three congregations (1968-1972), Shady Grove near Winston-Salem (1972-1977), Hinshaw Memorial of Greensboro (1977-1983), Boone UMC (1983-1987), First UMC, Waynesville (1987-1992), Christ UMC of Greensboro (1992-1998), and Providence UMC (1998-2003). During these years of pastoring a variety of parishes, Rev. Dr. Thompson served for several decades as a trustee of Pfeiffer University, where he received an honorary Doctor of Theology in 1991. He was elevated to the responsibility of Chair of the Board of Trustees while he labored as the Charlotte District Superintendent. He was active on the Board of Church and Society for the Western NC Conference and served four years as the board’s Chair of World Peace. He was the active Director of the Third World Ministerial Exchange and presided over pastoral pulpit exchanges with Kenya and India. He led the conference-wide study of the “Bishops’ Letter on Peace” and was a champion of peacemaking in Central America and the Middle East. He taught courses at a plethora of churches in western NC, addressing the complex history of Israel, the Palestinian people, and peacemaking in the Middle East. For the decade of the 1990s, he served with ten of the best-known preachers in the US as a Contributing Editor for the Pulpit Digest, with his sermons published with regularity in this periodical.

In 2003 Bishop Charlene Kammerer appointed Rev. Dr. Thompson to the office of District Superintendent of the Charlotte District where he gave administrative guidance to over eighty churches in the region of that city. He served under the authority of three bishops until his retirement in 2011. He and Pat chose to reside in the lovely mountain town of Waynesville until 2022, where their ministry in retirement evolved into new forms. Rev. Thompson taught elementary children in Sunday school, assisted the pastor in teaching confirmation youth, labored in a ministry of compassion with the poor (Circles of Hope), remained an active Rotarian (Paul Harris Fellow), and enjoyed a lively book club. In 2014 he completed a major work in Christian theology, God Is Not Fair, Thank God!: Biblical Paradox in the Life and Worship of the Parish, published by Wipfandstock. Shortly after this book was published, it was reviewed and cited by The Expository Times of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland as its “book of the month.” This volume represented nearly three years of concentrated research and writing. The following year, he wrote a tribute to his brother, Albert Thompson, Jr., entitled, A Loving Message from Grandy. Near the conclusion of 2022, he published his autobiography, As Time Goes By: the Covenant Life of George and Pat Thompson (Amazon publisher). During retirement, George and Pat carefully planned annual trips of interest and challenge, traveling to lands foreign and domestic: England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland; each of the states of New England; a variety of cities in Texas; New Orleans; Atlantic City, New York City, and various portions of NY State. They followed rhythms of a local (national) destination throughout various portions of the US and a foreign land each year of retirement.

Rev. Dr. Thompson will be remembered as a devoted husband (59 years of marriage), a loving father to Stephanie (with her spouse Aaron Vannoy), proud grandfather of Max Vannoy, a proclaimer of the Good News of hope, a biblical scholar, a teacher of children, a caring pastor, a prophetic presence in each parish, and an apostle of peace. He is survived by his loving wife Pat, daughter Stephanie Vannoy (husband Aaron) and grandson Max Vannoy of Greensboro, NC, sister-in-law Gail B. Thompson, nephews Bert Thompson (Marsha) of Chesapeake, VA, and Brett Thompson (Tiffany) of Virginia Beach, VA, along with many loving cousins.

A Celebration of Life will be held on March 1, 2025, at 2pm at Christ United Methodist Church, 410 N. Holden Road, Greensboro NC, 27403. As an avid Duke supporter and closet “Cameron Crazy” we kindly ask you wear Duke Blue or a shade of his favorite color, purple.

In Lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The American Heart Association, heart.org or to Christ United Methodist Church mission and outreach fund at 410 N. Holden Road, Greensboro NC 27403 christgreensboro.org

Hanes Lineberry North Elm Chapel is assisting the Thompson family with arrangements. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared by visiting haneslineberryfhnorthelm.com