Barbara Thompson

A funeral service for Barbara L. Thompson, 85, of Belfield, will be held at 2 p. m. Saturday, January 24, 2015, at Belfield Lutheran Church in Belfield with visitation at the church one hour before the funeral. Burial will follow in Belfield Lutheran Cemetery. Visitation for Barbara will be from 3:00 p. m. to 8:00 p. m. , Friday, January 23, 2015 at Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson. Barbara passed away January 21, 2015, at the age of 85 years at CHI St. Joseph’s Health in Dickinson. Barbara Louise Bredberg Thompson was born January 11, 1930, in Spokane, Washington, to Clara Belle (Fallgren) Bredberg and Carl Edwin Bredberg. . Barbara’s father worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad and the family lived in several communities along the rail line in eastern Montana, including Horton, where Barbara started school. In 1943, the family moved to Fryburg, North Dakota. Barbara attended Mandan High School for two years and then Belfield High School, where she met the love of her life, Clarence (Sonny) Thompson. After high school, Barbara worked for a time in Spokane, Washington. The couple married on May 19, 1950, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and moved into an apartment in Belfield. In 1952, the couple lived briefly in Biloxi, Mississippi, while Clarence was in radio school at Keesler Air Force Base. They were apart for 1-1/2 years while Clarence was in military service in Japan. Following his return to Belfield, the couple assumed responsibility for the family-owned business, Thompson Hardware, and began raising their family. They closed the store in 1995 but continued to live in the upstairs apartment in their retirement, and converted much of the lower level into additional living space to accommodate visits from family and friends. Barbara loved to read, knit, bake, do crossword puzzles, play cards and dominoes, and watch Westerns. An active member of the community, she was a past treasurer for the Elm Grove School District and the Belfield Medora Food Pantry (a position she relinquished just a week before her death). She volunteered with Eldercare and with the Southwestern District Health Unit, was a member of the American legion Auxiliary, and participated regularly in events at the Belfield Senior Citizen Center. Barbara had a rich faith and over the course of many years was a faithful participant in worship at Belfield Lutheran Church and in the life of the congregation as Sunday School teacher, Bible study leader, women’s group officer, wedding and funeral hostess, and coordinator of Lenten worship services. She was a past board member of Badland’s Lutheran Bible Camp and at the time of her death was part of an interdenominational group of women who met to pray and to knit prayer shawls and baptismal blankets. Barbara was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Burrell Bredberg and Robert Bredberg; and two sons, Tyler Norman and Thomas James, who died shortly after their births. She is survived by her husband; daughters Susan (Timothy) Johnson of Bismarck and Cynthia (James) Nelson of Minneapolis; three grandchildren Andrew Johnson of Plymouth, Minnesota, Anna (Andrew) Wallenkamp of Denver, Colorado, and Maren Nelson of Minneapolis; and an infant great-grandson Theodore Andrew Wallenkamp. Memorials preferred to Badland’s Ministries, the Belfield/Medora Food Pantry, or donor’s choice.


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Burial Date: January 24, 2015
Funeral Home Dickinson, ND

Funeral Service: Saturday: Belfield Lutheran Church, Belfield, ND