Gloria Marie Thompson

Born in Cresskill, Bergen County, New Jersey, on December 2, 1925, Mrs. Thompson lived in Cresskill, NJ, and Forest Hills and Astoria, NY, before moving to Florida in 1951. She passed away on July 5, 2025, at age 99.

Gloria was predeceased by her mother, Marie (nee Zonfrillo) Griggs; her father, Odie L. Griggs.; her brother, William L. (Dorothy) Griggs; her sweet daughter, Kathleen Edith Thompson (1945-2023) her beloved son, George Michael Thompson (1954-1979), and her dear husband, George Allen Thompson, who was the Founder of Thompson Pump & Mfg. Co., Inc. (1921–2000).

At various times during her long life, Mrs. Thompson was employed by: Equitable Life Insurance Company, NYC; Sterling National Bank in Forest Hills, NY; Wholesale Grocers Supply in El Dorado, Arkansas; Halifax Hospital, Daytona Beach, FL.; Complete Machinery & Equipment Co., Inc, Hicksville, Long Island, NY; and she was one of the founders of Thompson Pump & Manufacturing Co., Inc., Port Orange, FL. Gloria was also a volunteer with the Volusia County Library System (S. Cornelia Young branch) and Daytona Beach Civic Music Association.

Gloria was kind, generous, dedicated to family, and was loved and respected by all. She was an excellent cook; a voracious reader; an advocate of proper manners and etiquette; and a talented musician, playing piano and attending and supporting classical music concerts. She was a proficient typist (keyboarder) and skilled in all facets of clerical and accounting tasks. Mrs. Thompson cherished her time with family at home and at her “Cabin on the Lake” in Forest Lakes, Robbinsville, NC.

In addition to numerous worthwhile charities, the Thompson family has endowed a medical research professorship at the University of Florida.

Those left to cherish her memory include: son, William F. (Carol) Thompson of Daytona Beach, FL, six grandchildren: Karen (Robert) Ungerman, of Athens, GA.; Christopher (Heather) Thompson; Amanda (Ken) Thompson; Robert (Kyla) Thompson; Dale (Diana) Conway and Daniel Conway; thirteen great-grandchildren: Hailey, Maggie and Emily Thompson; Mason and Harper Thompson; Clansie, Roselle and Mila Thompson; Austin & Lena Ungerman; and Lauren, Lindsey and Carter Conway. All of whom, except for the Ungerman family, live in the Halifax area. Additionally Mrs. Thompson will live on in the hearts of numerous nieces and nephews.

A public Visitation and Gathering of Friends and Family will be held on Friday, July 11, beginning at 11:00 AM at Volusia Memorial Funeral Home, 4815 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Port Orange, with a Funeral Service at 12:00 noon. Burial will be private.

Instead of flowers, please consider a donation to the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Daytona Beach Symphony Society, the Halifax Humane Society, Halifax Habitat for Humanity, or Polycystic Kidney Disease Research at the University of Florida in Gainesville.