Ronald Thompson
Ronald George Thompson, 81, of
Rawson, N.D., passed away Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023.
Ron was born on Jan. 11, 1942, in Cutbank, Mont., and spent his formative years raised on the family farm in Arnegard, N.D. He played basketball, baseball, and football for the Arnegard Spuds high school teams and played cornet in the band. After high school, he attended North Dakota State University in Fargo and was a member of the engineering fraternity. He came home for one year in the middle of his college years to tend to the farm and the family business, Bud’s Pump Service and Water Well Drilling, after his dad suffered a heart attack.
After college graduation, he spent a brief stint in New York, as an engineer before he joined the Forest Service. Ron worked 27 years as an engineer for the Forest Service in Idaho, Washington and Oregon, finally retiring in 1993 and moved back to North Dakota, where his heart always stayed. His hobbies included fishing, bowling and cribbage as well as working on whatever unique project his engineering mind had him doing, whether it was woodworking, furniture building, fixing up old cars or coming up with solutions and new tools for the pump repair business.
Ron passed away Dec. 12, 2023, at his home in Rawson, N.D.
Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Lloyd “Bud” Thompson and Janet “Jenny” (Lee) Thompson; two wives, Ava (Green) Thompson and Arlene (Hubbert) Thompson; and one great-grandchild, Cameron Hartrick.
He is survived by his three siblings, Sharon Whited, Roger Thompson and Janet Erhardt; his five children, Cory Thompson of Auburn, Wash., Angie Karnes of Rainier, Wash., Jared Green of Bend, Ore., Cherie Davis of Lakeview, Ore., and Douglas Green of Rawson, N.D., who stayed by his side for the final years of his life; 12 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
A special thanks to Lyn Strom, who cared for Ron and kept him safe until the end.
A service will be held at the Wilmington Lutheran Church in Arnegard, N.D., at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023. There will be a family service at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023, at the Fulkerson Stevenson Memorial Chapel in Watford City, N.D.