Gwen Thompson, 102, school teacher, rancher’s wife, lifelong volunteer and Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother, died March 26, 2013, in Wilsonville. Known for her feisty personality and quick wit, Gwen was born September 14, 1910, in Spokane.

She was the daughter of Emma Miller Evans and Evan Evans and was named Gwendolyn. Her brother, Llewellyn was born a few years later. Gwen grew up in Lexington and Spokane. After graduating from Oregon College of Education in Monmouth, she taught in a one-room school house outside Heppner. This was during the Depression and money was in short supply so she was paid in sheepskin script. She married Robert Stephen Thompson and she and Steve started farming and ranching in the Heppner area in 1941. In 1954, Gwen and Steve and their two daughters, Judy and Janet, moved to Pendleton. Their son, Terry, was a student at Oregon State College at the time of the move. The Charbonneau area of Wilsonville became Gwen and Steve’s home in 1978.

In her later years, she lived at Springridge Court in Charbonneau where she received excellent care which added to the quality of her life. Gwen was a member of St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church, P.E.O., Cypress Branch of Boys and Girls Aid and Native American Arts Council. She enjoyed playing Bridge, traveling in the states and abroad, live theater, decorating, entertaining and dancing.

Her family includes her son, Terry and his wife, Karen; and her daughters, Judy Schneider and Janet Bliss; grandchildren are Shelley Thompson Connelly and her husband, Tim, Brian Stephen Thompson and his wife, Susie, Eric Scott Thompson, Robert Stephen Rothrock, Elizabeth Rothrock Hein and her husband, Greg, Andrew Stephen Bliss and his wife, June and Troy Christopher Bliss and his wife, Kelsy; her great-grandchildren are Erin, Kevin, Emily, Stephen, Luke, Ana, Jake, Krystal, Cheyenne, Weston and Elena.

A private memorial service will be held at St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church. Memorial contributions can be made to Boys and Girls Aid, Native American Arts Council, Portland Art Museum or to Oregon State Chapter P.E.O. Sisterhood Charitable Trust and mailed to: Riverview Abbey, 0319 SW Taylors Ferry Road, Portland, OR 97219.