Mable Thompson

Visitation will be held at Lighthouse Memorials & Receptions, Chapel, 1016 W. 164th St., Gardena, CA 90247, US, on August 27, 2026, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am, followed by the Funeral Service at Lighthouse Memorials & Receptions, Chapel, 1016 W. 164th St., Gardena, CA 90247, Country US, on August 27, 2026, from 10:00 am to 11:30 am.

A Reception will take place at Lighthouse Memorials & Receptions, Reception Room, 1016 W. 164th St., Gardena, CA 90247, on August 27, 2026, from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm.

The Committal Service will be held at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Boulevard, Riverside, CA 92518, US, on August 31, 2026, from 10:45 am to 11:45 am.

Mable Curtis Thompson lived for 89 years, but if you knew her, you know that “lived” is the important word.

She was never just passing through life—she was going to enjoy it, laugh about it, speak her mind and make sure everyone around her felt her love. Mable was a light for her family and friends.

That light dimmed on August 10, 2026, when Mable died peacefully of complications from colon cancer and congestive heart failure.

One of her signature catch phrases back in the day was “hello world!” And Mable said “hello world” on October 24,1936 in Waxahachie, Texas. She was the fourth child born to the Rev. Herman R. Johnson and Viola Mitchell Johnson.

Her father was at the helm of a church there when she was born. She grew up in Beaumont, Texas in a loving family that not only included her parents and siblings, but a host of uncles, aunts and cousins she held dear in her heart.

That love for family was fierce and abiding, and it was key to how she was raised. The Mitchell, Mott and House branches of the family, which now include the Smiths and Terrells, have hosted an annual “homecoming” family reunion since 1955, and Mable loved to head out to Madisonville, Texas, to see and love on her people.

When she was in high school, she moved to Northern California to live with her Aunt Helen and Uncle Bill, graduating from Oakland Technical High School in 1954. After high school she worked various clerical jobs for the federal government.

She stayed in California until the early 1980s, when she moved back to Beaumont to be with her mother. In her hometown, Mable worked the overnight shift at Medical and Surgical Hospital (MASH), now known as Herman Memorial-Baptist, where she did data entry. She returned to California in the late 1990s, where she worked clerical jobs for the U.S. Post Office and the Riverside School Unified School District.

Mable married twice. She wed Ralph Powell in the late 1950s. The couple divorced in 1961.

In 1968, she married her late husband Marsden A. Thompson, who died in 1998.

Thompson was a World War II veteran and an executive officer responsible for administrative work for the 477th Bombardment Group, an all-Black unit associated with the Tuskegee Airmen. He fought against segregation at an officer’s club and was acquitted in a case stemming from a protest there. It was a chapter of his life that Mable was immensely proud to recount.

She never had children of her own, but she certainly never lacked people to love. She adored her nieces and nephews and was very proud of them all. In Mable’s eyes, every niece was beautiful and every nephew was handsome—and she was not about to let anybody argue with her about it.

She had a great sense of humor, a strong personality, and just enough feistiness to keep everybody on their toes. Mable was a fighter. She had a way of facing life head-on, and she wasn't easily intimidated. Her brothers affectionately called her “Woman,” a name that somehow said everything about her—strong, unforgettable and very much her own person.

Mable loved good food and loved to cook. She was famous for her “hangover spaghetti” she would often make after late night card games with family. She loved the excitement of going to casinos, and she knew how to have a good time. She was also an avid sports fan, cheering on her Lakers, Dodgers, and Rams. She had her teams, her opinions, and she wasn't shy about either one.

Mable also had a brief brush with show business as a young woman when she and her three sisters stepped into a recording studio and lent their voices as background singers for country singer Glen Campbell and a few other artists.

Mable was preceded in death by her father, the Rev. Herman R. Johnson; her mother Viola Mitchell Johnson Wilson; her brothers Raymond Johnson and Harvey Johnson; her sisters Earnestine Munson, Grace Appling and Bennie Rose Almaraz.

She is survived by her nieces Beverly Hall (Jim), Melanie Johnson, Carol Appling; her nephews Lawrence and David Munson, Stephen Douglas (Sandra), Don “Mickey” Garrison (Shirley), Ivan Taylor and Fred Taylor (Sharon); her sisters-in-love Linda Johnson and Virginia Williams, and a host of great nephews and nieces, great-great nephews and nieces, cousins and friends.

She leaves behind a family who will miss her laughter, her cooking, her opinions, her stories and that unmistakable Mable spirit.

So perhaps a traditional goodbye isn't quite right for a woman like Mable.

Instead, we say:

Go on, Mable/Auntie/Woman! You did your thing. You proved to be a “bad egg,” as your brother Harvey would say. You loved your people. You made us laugh. You stood your ground. You fought to stay independent until the end. You enjoyed your food, your family, your sports and some occasional luck at the casino.

And you left us with stories we'll be telling for years to come.

Rest well. You were one of a kind—and that's exactly how we'll remember you.