Beth Chappell Thompson

Beth Chappell Thompson of Clyde, North Carolina, died June 15, 2026 in hospice care in Flat Rock, NC, after a long battle with degenerative lung disease. She was 79 years old.

Beth was a fierce and friendly competitor on golf courses in Buncombe, Haywood and Henderson counties of Western North Carolina as well in regional and national senior amateur tournaments. In 2016, her best year, she qualified for the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur in Wellesley, Mass. For 33 years she was active in Alcoholics Anonymous in Asheville and Haywood County. And she was an inspiring and treasured member of the region's gay and lesbian community, teaching and mentoring many in the community and their friends and families.

She met her wife, Nan Williamson, a retired Haywood County librarian, in Asheville on December 8, 1996 "and we considered ourselves married from Day One," Nan said. They were legally married in San Jose, California, on September 25, 2013, a year before same-sex marriage became legal in North Carolina.

Beth was born July 14, 1946, in Washington, North Carolina, to the late Leon Chappell Thompson and Mary Hazel Meacham Thompson. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In additional to Nan, Beth is survived by her sister, Nancy Wood Thompson Pleasants, and her husband, Ed, of Winston Salem. Beth's son by a previous marriage, Chip Thompson, died in 2005.

Beth was a fan of and later participant in the Skyview Open Pro/Am golf tournament, begun 1960 by the African American-founded Skyview Golf Association and held annually at the Asheville Municipal Golf Course, North Carolina's first municipal course. The tournament, now open to all races as well as to men and women, will be played for the 66th time September 22-23 at the Country Club of Asheville due to ongoing repairs to the Municipal course from damage caused by Hurricane Helene. Tournament proceeds benefit a college scholarship fund for six students and an elderly assistance program. Donations may be made in Beth's remembrance to the Skyview Golf Association, P.O. Box 824, Asheville, NC 28802.

Garrett Funeral Home is caring for the family. A message of comfort may be made to the family at www.garrettfuneralsandcremations.com