Thomas J. Tompkins

Thomas Jefferson (Tommy) Tompkins, age 85, passed away at Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland on December 22, 2020. Visitation will be held from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 29, at Parkway Funeral Home in Ridgeland, with funeral services immediately following at 10:00 a.m. at the same location.

Tommy Tompkins was born July 18, 1935 in El Paso, Texas to Bessie Magnolia Miller and Simeon Loe Tompkins, the younger brother of Bessie Lorene Tompkins. He spent his early years in El Paso and Sydney, Arkansas, before eventually enrolling at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi. There, in 1954, he met Barbara Jean Norris, his beloved wife of 55 years, who predeceased him in 2012. Tommy is survived by his sons, Jeffrey Tompkins of East Setauket, N.Y. (married to Alice Haining) and Gary Tompkins of Madison, Mississippi (with Margie Jepson), and by his beloved grandchildren, Jackson Loe Tompkins and Dylan Rose Tompkins.

Tommy Tompkins was a devoted and loving husband, a kind and caring father and grandfather, and a pillar of service in his churches and community. As a man of strong faith, he took great comfort in his assurance that he and Barbara would be reunited in heaven. He played an active role in the churches he attended during his more than 60 years in the Jackson area – Hillcrest Baptist, Broadmoor Baptist, Woodland Hills Baptist, and Highland Colony Baptist – serving as a deacon, a teacher, and frequently lending his rich bass voice to the church choirs.

He also was a role model for his sons in the importance of commitment, personal responsibility, and love of family. For more than 30 years in the mortgage loan services with Wortman & Mann, Unifirst, and later Trustmark, Tommy held positions of increasing responsibility and earned the respect of his colleagues for his expertise, reliability, and willingness to help others whenever he could. An annual highlight of his working years was dressing up as Santa to distribute gifts and joke with his co-workers at the annual office Christmas parties.

After graduating from Jones County Junior College and serving in the U.S. Navy, Tommy enrolled at Louisiana State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree and saw the birth of his first son. As a result of his years in Baton Rouge, Tommy developed a lifelong love of LSU Tiger football – a great challenge for a man who proudly made Mississippi his home for six decades and a cherished legacy that he passed along to his sons. Geaux Tigers!

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.