Dorothy Thompson, 93, was born on December 26, 1921 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Grant and Bertha (Lind) Starkey. In 1943-45 she worked as a legal secretary at Fort Knox, Kentucky, where she met Ralph Thompson, a young Army lieutenant from North Dakota. After the war ended and he returned from the Philippines, their courtship resumed and they were married at her parents’ home in Kansas City. Ralph made a career in the military. Army life took the family to Germany, where he worked on the western end of the Berlin Airlift, and to occupied Japan in the mid-1950s. Dorothy was adept at keeping a happy home life, making things go smoothly through many moves. She thoroughly enjoyed the adventure of it all. When Ralph retired in 1961, they moved to San Jose, California where he finished college, and from there to San Diego where he taught school until his second retirement. They both loved to travel, and in their later years they joined their friends on trips to China, Spain, Morocco, the Panama Canal, and Canada among other destinations. They were both proud of their three children and two grandchildren, and Dorothy was especially proud that they had put Ralph and all three children through college. Ralph’s death in 2004 was a terrible blow after 57 years of happy marriage, but she stayed in their home in San Diego until moving to Laramie in  early 2014 to be near her daughter, Linda. She enjoyed living in the Regency Retirement Residence in Laramie, and easily made new friends there.

Dorothy and Ralph were active members of Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church in San Diego for many years. Memorial services will be held there.

She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and by a younger brother, Robert Starkey (“Buddy”).

 She is survived by her three children, Linda Lillegraven of Laramie, Wyoming, Robin Thompson of Rohnert Park, California, and Keith Thompson of San Diego, California, and by her two grandchildren, Beth Thompson and Sam Thompson of Santa Rosa, California.

Memorial donations may be made to Hospice of Laramie (www.hospiceoflaramie.com)