Holden Thompson

which he had for 20 years.

Holden was born on April 15, 1942 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina where his

father Lt. Colonel Oscar H. Thompson from Atlanta was stationed before he was sent to active duty in

WWII.

During the three years that his father was overseas, Holden and his mother Frances Ricks

Thompson lived in her hometown Reynolds, Georgia with her parents Ferdinand Augustus Ricks and

Frances Smith Ricks. Holden’s paternal grandparents were Oscar Rivers and Marcia Holden Thompson of Atlanta.

Holden is survived by his wife of 56 years, Elsie Ives Thompson from Raleigh, North Carolina and two daughters Terrace Thompson Pair (Daron) of Atlanta and their two children Emmett Oscar Pair and William Holden Pair; and Laura Thompson Bellomy (Steve,) of Decatur and his daughter Molly Grace.

Holden is now reunited with their beloved oldest daughter Katherine Ives Thompson who died in 2014.

Holden was the second oldest of seven children…two of whom preceded him in death: Frances

Thompson Armstrong of Bath, NC, and Nancy Thompson Blanchard of Atlanta. The surviving siblings are

Glenn Thompson Simpson (Bob) of Cumming, Ga., John Franklin Thompson (Beth) of Macon, Jean

Thompson Rybert of Atlanta, Patricia Thompson King (Perry) of Atlanta, and brother-in-law Roy

Armstrong of Bath, NC. Also surviving are brother-in-law Charles L. Ives III of Rock Hill, SC and sister-and

brother-in-law Penny and Johnny Sanders of Raleigh, NC. His 14 nieces and nephews on the Thompson

side and 6 on the Ives sides admired and loved Uncle Holden. Three special nieces: Sydney Blanchard

and Whitney and Jennifer Rybert are welcoming Holden to their Heavenly Home.

Raised in Atlanta, Holden attended R.L. Hope Elementary School and North Fulton High in Buckhead

before graduating from The Baylor School in Chattanooga which he dearly loved. There he played a little

football but excelled in tennis and played #1 on the tennis team. It was at UNC in Chapel Hill where he

was a Phi Delta Theta, that he met Elsie Ives, and upon his graduation in 1965, they married on

September 11. Settling back in Atlanta, he joined his father Oscar in the shoe business--Thompson

Boland and Lee (started by his grandfather Oscar Rivers Thompson,) which he helped grow to 7 stores

throughout the Atlanta area. In 1985 Holden and his brother Jack along with their retired father Oscar,

formed Oscar Thompson Shoes at Phipps Plaza. In 1994 Holden joined Elsie at Harry Norman Realtors

forming “The Thompson Team” and in 2006 were joined by their daughter Laura.

Holden was an incredible father totally involved in his three daughters’ lives, whether it was teaching

them tennis, water skiing, snow skiing, basketball (he coached every team each daughter was on at

Peachtree Rd Methodist.) Great family trips in their pop-up camper included a long trip to National Parks

in the west and another long trip to the northeast. At the Buckhead YMCA, he was a part of the first

Indian Princess program in the United States through which he helped plan and enjoyed many fatherdaughter camping trips with his daughters. He also was instrumental in getting the first such program started in North Carolina. Holden impacted the lives of many youth at the church, being very involved for many years on Sunday nights and youth trips either skiing or spelunking/sleeping in caves, etc. He also taught Sunday School to the class of 1993 from their 10th grade through their 12th grade, teaching straight from the Bible. Holden’s other interests and hobbies were tennis, golf, running (ran the Grand Canyon in 1984 with 4 of his Y running group friends---now the walking group,) Bible study, fishing and woodworking. He loved to hunt quail with his many different dogs, but his favorite was his beloved

Boykin Spaniel, Scout. He wrote articles about Scout which were published.

A Memorial Service will be held at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, 3180 Peachtree Rd,

Atlanta, GA 30305 on Monday, February 7 at 2:00 PM. A reception will follow in Grace Hall.

In lieu of flowers, if desired, donations may be made to Peachtree Road United Methodist Church or The Michael J. Fox Foundation (P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown MD 21741-5014).