Howard Thompson

Howard passed away in Vancouver, WA, May 11, 2016, from Parkinson’s disease. In 1937, he came with his parents, Hershel F. Thompson and Aileen (Kerttula), from the Mississippi in Deer River, MN, to the Lewis River in Woodland. They first operated the Woodland Auto Park, then Thompson’s Trailer Park on Horseshoe Lake.

After graduating from Woodland High in 1944, Howard joined the Army Air Corps. He loved to describe meeting Eunice Moe at a USO dance in Sioux Falls, SD; in 1945 they married in Wichita Falls, TX, as WWII ended. He served in Manila, the Philippines, as a teletype operator.

Howard and Eunice lived in Vanport, OR, when the 1948 flood destroyed it. He attended the Hastings School of Business in Portland. They moved to the Heights in Vancouver in 1949, lived from 1951 to 1956 in Minne-haha, then settled on Wahclellah Ave.

A clerk for SP&S Railway and Burlington Northern, he tested and improved BN’s computer inventory systems, and worked part-time at Montgomery Ward in Portland.

Howard enjoyed travel, gardening, and photography, and was active in Trinity Lutheran Church, the Democratic Party, the Railway Clerks’ union, and Boy Scouts. He is remembered for his willing helpfulness.

Survivors include his wife, Eunice; sons, Michael and David; granddaughter Karen (husband Scott) Thompson (all of Vancouver); and numerous nieces and nephews.

Committal services will be on Wednesday, May 18, at 12:30 p.m. at Willamette National Cemetery. The memorial service will be held on May 19 at 3:00 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Trinity or to Ray Hickey Hospice House.

Arrangements under the direction of Vancouver Funeral Chapel, Vancouver, WA.