Tommie D. Thompson

Tommie D. Thompson

December 1, 1945 – April 17, 2022

VISITATION: Monday, April 25^th from 6pm to 8pm at the West Center Chapel.  FUNERAL: Tuesday, April 26^th at 10am at King of Kings Lutheran Church.  In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to King of Kings Lutheran Church Foundation.

To view a live broadcast of the Funeral Service, please go to www.heafeyheafey.com and click the “View Live Cast” button on the home page.

Tommie Dean Thompson was born December 1, 1945, in Lincoln, NE.  He entered his heavenly home on April 17, 2022.   His life was full of faith, hope and love and an incredible community of friends.  It is impossible to summarize his well-lived 76 years, but we will do the best we can.

Childhood: Tommie grew up in Lincoln, NE with his parents, his two brothers, Wayne and Gary, and his sister, Judith.  He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1964 where he received several academic achievements including induction into the National Honor Society and earning a Regent’s Scholarship at University of Nebraska Lincoln.  He lettered in basketball and baseball and was a part of Boys State and Boys Nation.  His passion for hard work and dedication to a strong work ethic began when he started working at Leon’s Food Market in Lincoln, NE during his high school years.

Education:  He used to say, “I thought I wanted to be a doctor until I found I couldn’t stand the sight of blood, so I decided to be an accountant.”  Tommie earned his Bachelor of Science/Business Administration degree (Summa Cum Laude) from University of Nebraska Lincoln in 1968.  Tommie was committed to his studies, which earned him the honor of graduating 1^st in his Business Administration College Class and in the top 1% of 1968 University of Nebraska Graduates.

Career:  Tommie began his career in public accounting at Arthur Andersen & Co. in Omaha, NE in June of 1968.  He transferred to the Houston, TX office in 1978 where he went on to become an Audit Partner.  Tommie left public accounting and went to work for the Federal Home Loan Bank in Topeka, KS from 1985 to 1989.  He was self-employed for a year and then finished out his career at Mutual of Omaha as Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer from 1990 to 2008.  He was a well-respected member of the Omaha business community.

Family:  Tommie met Melodee Ruth Eno and fell in love at Lincoln High.  Tommie was a senior and Melodee was a Junior.  Melodee took the bull by the horns and asked Tommie to their winter dance, but Tommie said, “I’ll only go if I can take you out first.”  They married on June 3^rd, 1968 and celebrated 53 years of marriage last summer.  They began their family in Omaha in 1970 with the birth of their daughter, Angie.  Jenny their second daughter was born in 1973.  Tommie was extremely proud of his daughters, and they were the light of his life.  Throughout their marriage Tommie and Melodee lived in Omaha, Houston, Topeka and then back to Omaha.  They met many lifelong friends along the way.  They celebrated with Angie in her marriage to Chris Dierks in 2000 and have since celebrated the birth of three grandchildren, Allie, Emily and Connor.

Hobbies:  Tommie was an avid golfer who enjoyed many days at Oak Hills Country Club surrounded by friends and family. He enjoyed traveling to a variety of golf courses. His favorites courses are too many to name and he was blessed to play in Scotland and Pebble Beach to name a few. He enjoyed hunting and fishing in Canada. Tommie was a lover of sports and enjoyed cheering on the Baylor Bears, the Arkansas Razorbacks, but most of all, his first love the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  Tommie and Melodee inherited family season tickets that originated in 1929 after Melodee’s dad graduated as a Husker football player.  Another family tradition since 2002 has been attending the College World Series on Father’s Day weekend.  The family participated in many sporting “competitions” including Fantasy Football, March Madness Brackets, and constant competition (friendly games of Spoons, Tenzi, and Five-Second Rule).  Tommie attended too many dance and cheer competitions to count and enjoyed being on the sidelines to cheer on Connor at soccer, baseball, basketball, and flag football.  When Tommie wasn’t traveling or attending sporting events, he was volunteering in the Omaha community by serving on several Boards including the King of Kings Foundation Board, The Durham Museum and Durham Foundation, the Oak Hills Board of Directors, and the Board of Directors of Grace Point Institute for Relational Health just to name a few.  His faith and passion for global ministries opened the door for numerous other opportunities such as prayer ministry at King of Kings, chairing the annual Tee Off Fore Missions Golf Tournament and chairing events for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the Visiting Nurse Association.

Tommie is survived by his wife, Melodee Ruth Thompson; daughters Angela Thompson Dierks (Christopher) and Jennifer Thompson; three grandchildren: Alexandra Ruth Dierks, Emily Kathryn Dierks, Connor Wesley Dierks; sister, Judith Kay Vidlak.  He was preceded in death by his mom and dad, Wayne James Thompson, Sr. and Mary Gladys Thompson, brothers, Wayne James Thompson, Jr. and Gary Lee Thompson, Sr.

For those who know Tommie well, they know he was a man of few words.  However, Tommie loved deeply, and his heart overflowed with His faith in Christ and love for his family and friends.  Tommie knew Jesus as his Lord and Savior and there is peace in knowing he is in his eternal home.

We are so blessed to be surrounded by many wonderful friends and family.  The support, encouragement and prayers have been overwhelming and we know that this will continue in the days, months and years to come.  Thank you just isn’t enough. 

To say we will miss Tom, Dad, and Papa is an understatement.  He was our Rock and his first priority was always taking care of his family.  He has been through so much in the last seven years and we are grateful for the healing that God did in his life, which granted us additional time with him.  The experiences and memories that we have with him will always be treasured in our hearts and we know that he will always be with us.  His faith in God was an example to us, but also to every other life that he touched.  The memories we’ve made and the faith that we all share will sustain us in the days ahead.  We love you Tom, Dad and Papa and await the day that we will be reunited in Heaven.