GLENBURN – Gerald M. Thompson, 76, died peacefully July 9, 2006, at his home. He was born Nov. 8, 1929, in Old Town, the son of Elvin H. and Adeline (Ashe) Thompson. Gerald was educated in the Old Town schools and graduated from Old Town High School in 1948. He married his high school sweetheart, Ruth Noyes. After working at Shiro’s Old Town Hardware for 15 years, he completed a course in watch, clock and jewelry repair from the Chicago School of Watchmaking. He then joined the business of Boyd and Noyes Jewelers in Bangor. Three years later GTE-Sylvania opened a plant in Bangor, and he worked there until his retirement in December of 1992. Gerald was very skilled with a talent for building or repairing anything. He and Ruth built a house in Glenburn in 1983. Gerald built many other objects of interest: clocks, including a grandfather clock, two-color solid wood lamps, doll houses, boats, a dulcimer and a replica of a Concord stagecoach. Besides woodworking he enjoyed researching the Civil War and especially Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard from Leeds. A trip to Gettysburg with his son-in-law, Jack, was a most special event in his life. Gerald’s special project recently was to restore the gravestones in an old abandoned cemetery on Frye Mountain. It was the burial place of Capt. William Ripley and his family. Capt. Ripley was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. With a group of friends the restoration was completed successfully. He is survived by his loving wife of 56 years, Ruth of Glenburn; a son, Craig and wife, Marilyn, of Bradley; a daughter, Kathryn Merrithew and husband, John “Jack,” of Bangor; his twin brother, Harold of Old Town; a sister, Elaine Frost and husband, Paul, of Bass Harbor; grandson, Douglas Thompson of Bradley; granddaughters, Michelle Dupuis and husband, Jay, of Bradley, Carrie Reed of Veazie, Kristi Potter and husband, Keith, of Glenburn; four great-granddaughters, Erika Dupuis, Jenna Reed, Lauren Potter and Leah Potter; aunts, nieces, nephews and cousins; also Ruth’s sisters, Margaret Noyes of Madison, Phyllis Bulduc of Old Town and Deborah Gillespie and husband, Ted, of Scarborough. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by a sister, M. June Miles. Friends are invited to visit with the family 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, July 11, at Brookings-Smith, 133 Center St., Bangor, where funeral services will be held 1 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, with the Rev. Jeffrey Tenney, assistant pastor of Messiah Baptist Church of Bangor. Interment will be at Lakeview Cemetery, Glenburn. Condolences to the family may be expressed at www.BrookingsSmith.com
GERALD MERVIN THOMPSON
