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Show 1 Springville Herald Salutes Older Residents With Picture and Story Has Enjoyed Life . . . Mrs. Kate Thompson has a lovely teakwood screen, the design on which is inlaid with mother-of-pearl; also fireplace and irons of brass, brought from Germany Ger-many by grandparents, and a beautiful mohc-gany table which is an heirloom. She prizes also the real leather bound volumes of Ban-, croft's History of the World. Among her most prized possessions, posses-sions, are pieces of handiwork which she did many years ago and which appear almost perfect. She had also a talent for painting as seen in the piece which she considered con-sidered her best. Mrs. Thompson was a Red Cross worker d"ringf the First World War and she assited in many fund raising projects. She does not see so well now and she is a little hard of hearing but she has a keen sense .of humor and a smile which is probably responsible res-ponsible for the many friends she has made throughout her life. One can readily tell why she has been happy. She can still see the funny1 things in life. Mrs. Thompson appears younger than her years, walking briskly up and down stairs and doing light work about the house. She has always al-ways been known as a very fine house-keeper and even now takes special delight in seeing things shine. She spends much time listening 'o the radio and possibly a day never passes but she recalls some pleasant experience of her earlier years. j Editor's note: This is an- ( other in a series of articles j and pictures of Springville's older residents, who are being ) saluted each week in the Iler- j aid. Anyone over 75 years of I age is being so honored. Only j a call to the office, phone 57 ) and a listing of the name and ) age of th resident, is all that I is necessary; we arrange for ) the rest without charge. I All thosfe who are able are l asked to go to Ralph Snel- ' son's Studio and have a pic- i ture taken. There will be no I charge. The Herald will take i care of that, i j Mrs. Kate Thompson has never i had any children of her own, but 1 with her husband, the late Brose , Thompson, she has made many young people happy. The parties which she and her husband gave while they lived at Circleville, are still being talked about by folks who have long since grown up and moved from the area. Mrs. Thompson will celebrate her 87th birthday in Springville, the city of her birth, tomorrow, February 1. She has made her home with a niece and husband, Merell and T. Maeser Young, 306 East Eighth South street, for the past five and a half years. The Young home perhaps seems just like home to Mrs. Thompson, as it was to this place that her parents, John A. and Franceanya Rogers Miller moved when Mrs. Thompson was just two years old. She grew up here, was taught the fundamentals funda-mentals of reading, writing and arithmetic in the home and later attend the Brigham Young Academy Acad-emy When she was about 16 years of age, she went to Colorado to work in a hotel. Some time later, she met her future husband and at the age of 25, they were married by John Boyd, justice of the peace. Her husband's folks were well-to-do cattle people of Colorado and Mr. Thompson continued in the same business in the vicinity of Grand Junction, where they lived six years. They then purchased a large ranch in Circleville, which was known as the Thompson Ranch and Mr. and Mrs. Thompson became be-came known throughout southern Utah as "Aunt Kate and Uncle Brose." During their ranching years, they were frequent visitors to Springville, stopping at the home of Mrs. Thompson's sister, and husband, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clark, who lived in the family home on Eighth South. When "Aunt Kate and Uncle Brose" arrived in the hack which brought them from the depot, it was time for a gathering of all the neighborhood kids who were always al-ways delighted to talk to this congenial con-genial couple and joke with Mr. Thompson. Nieces and nephews can well remember re-member the fun they had at the Thompson ranch in Circleville, where some of them spent most of their summers. One time in particular par-ticular will never be forgotten. The ranch home, modern and well furnished furn-ished and the huge barn were reached by traveling down a long lane. It was an ideal setting for a Hallowe'en party, so the Thompsons Thomp-sons gave a real one and everyone from near and far was invited. The lane was lighted with pumpkins; the house cleared for Hallowe'en games and decorations and even the barn was arranged for Hallowe'en Hallo-we'en pranks. On such occasions, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson had the time of their lives. They loved to entertain and make people happy. Asked if the ranch life was hard, Mrs. Thompson replied that it was not. Quite often, when help was scarce, she helped her husband with light ranch work but she enjoyed en-joyed it and she often accompanied him on trips to cattle markets in the east. She has traveled extensively exten-sively with her husband to Chicago, Chic-ago, St. Louis and other points as he directed the shipment of cattle. "You see," Mrs. Thompson remarked, re-marked, "I had no family at home so I just followed my husband everywhere," And then she reminisced, rem-inisced, "my husband was the nicest nic-est looking man you ever saw and the very best. My life has been a good one and we were always so happy." After living in Circleville 18 years, they sold out completely, home, furniture, ranch and cattle and purchased a fine home in the center of Hollywood, California. Here they lived for about 23 years. Mr. Thompson died in April, 1946 and in August, Mrs. Thompson sold out and came to Springville. While living in Circleville, Mr. Thompson became interested in mining in Iron County, and he retained re-tained those interests while living liv-ing in California. He was a successful suc-cessful cattle man and his mining interests also proved very profitable. profit-able. Although each of the three times the Thompsons moved, thev sold their home furnished, Mrs. Thompson Thomp-son managed to keep many heirlooms heir-looms and antiques which she had collected through the years. Many she has given away, but she still |
