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June Rhoton (Torrence-Stewart)
Thompson
Carrollton &
Farmers Branch
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1943 The Silver
Lion
Carrollton High School
Carrollton, Dallas Co., Texas
Senior ClassSalutatorian of the class of 1943 |
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OBITUARY
June Rhoton Thompson
Thompson, June Rhoton Was born August 12, 1926 to Kermit "Zu" Stewart and
Iris
Rhoton Van Cleve. Born and raised in Carrollton, Texas, she graduated from
Carrollton High School as salutatorian of the class of 1943. In 1946 she married J.W. "Dub" Thompson, her husband for the next fifty years. June and Dub raised
four children: Kirk, John, Sharon and Dan. Once her children were all in school,
June returned to college at the urging of then superintendent MR.. Turner and
graduated from North Texas with her teaching credentials in 1958. She taught
first and second grades at Carrollton Elementary for the next five years,
student teaching with and then replacing her own first grade teacher
Miss Ola
Good. June got two master's degrees, one in administration and one in reading.
June moved into various supervisory roles in CFB-ISD before being named
principal of Woodlake Elementary the first woman principal in Carrollton-Farmers
Branch. In her ten years as principal at Woodlake she led students and teachers
to an appreciation of nature, to a love of good literature, to an understanding
of the importance of treating each other with respect and to living a positive
life. Her goal was to help children be creative, to love learning and to love
being in school. After retiring at Dub's urging, they spent time traveling and
sharing their home, "Riversong", on the Rio Grande in Colorado with family and
friends. Being surrounded with the nature that she loved so much was a blessing
she never took for granted. As one dear friend said, "She taught me to look for
the rainbow after the passing storm." She is survived by her sons, Kirk Thompson
and wife Michal, John Thompson and wife Gayle, daughter Sharon Thompson,
grandsons, Blake and Brandon Thompson and Sean Stone, granddaughters Stacy
Thompson Coombs and husband Drew and Shelley Neustupa and husband Brad,
great-grandchildren, Connor, Molly and Kate Coombs, Cameron Neustupa, Colby and
Cameron Stone, sisters, Barbara Pratt and Selena Van Cleve, brothers, John
Stewart and Ray Van Cleve, nieces Sandra Coler and Patricia Godley and husband
Gene. Visitation will be held at Rhoton Funeral Home, July 29, 2008 from 6-8pm.
There will be a private burial at 11:00 at Restland Cemetery July 30, 2008, and
a memorial service at 2 p.m. at June R. Thompson Elementary on Scott Mill Rd. in
Carrollton. Memorial contributions may be made to the CFB Educational Foundation
at 1820 Pearl Street in Carrollton 75006 toward the Danny Thompson Scholarship
Fund. Rhoton Funeral Home 1511 N. Stemmons Frwy Carrollton (972) 242-5261
Dignity Memorial.
The Dallas Morning News - July 27, 2008
Submitted by Betty Lou
(Stanley) Dennis |
JUNE RHOTON STEWART THOMPSON -
Devoted teacher had school named for her
Dallas Morning News, The (TX) - July 29, 2008
Author: JOE SIMNACHER, Staff Writer [email protected]
June Rhoton Stewart Thompson loved the excitement of students learning.
In 1973, she was named principal of Woodlake Elementary, the first woman
to lead a school in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district.
In honor of her service to education, the district made Mrs. Thompson
the eponym of an elementary school.
Mrs. Thompson, 81, died Saturday of complications of lung cancer at her
Farmers Branch home.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at June R. Thompson
Elementary School on Scott Mill Road in Carrollton. She will be buried
in a private graveside service at Restland Funeral Home before the
memorial service.
Mrs. Thompson glowed while she taught, said her daughter, Sharon
Thompson of Farmers Branch.
"She loved the excitement of learning," Ms. Thompson said.
Mrs. Thompson was born and raised in Carrollton, where she was
salutatorian of the Carrollton High School Class of '43.
She studied sociology at North Texas State Teachers College, now the
University of North Texas, and the University of Arizona, before she
married J.W. "Dub" Thompson in 1946. Mr. Thompson died in 1997.
Mr. Thompson was on the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Board of Trustees when
district superintendent R.L. Turner urged Mrs. Thompson to become a
teacher. She returned to the Denton university, where she earned a
bachelor's degree and teaching credentials in 1958.
Mrs. Thompson did her student teaching for Ola Good, who had been her
first-grade teacher in Carrollton. Ms. Good retired the next semester,
leaving Mrs. Thompson her teaching materials.
She taught first grade for four years and second grade for one year
before being named an instructional coordinator with the district.
Mrs. Thompson earned a master's degree in administration from the Denton
university and a master's in reading from Southern Methodist University.
As an administrator, she introduced the Head Start program to the
district, as well as kindergarten, her daughter said.
But Mrs. Thompson longed for the daily contact with students.
"The supervisory thing was fine, but she didn't have any contact with
kids; it was all with teachers," Ms. Thompson said. "She wanted to make
sure she was in contact with those children every day."
In 1973, Mrs. Thompson was named principal of Woodlake Elementary
School, where she spent the last 10 years of her career.
As principal she instituted the school's "We Care" motto. She tried to
bring children into her office for positive things. She wrote individual
notes to graduating sixth-graders, noting their strengths and mentioning
a remembrance that had touched her, her daughter said.
She saw to it that nature and literature were highlighted. Students
released butterflies and had a day to fly kites, which was then made a
writing topic.
"It made what they wrote very relevant to the experience they were
having," Ms. Thompson said.
Mrs. Thompson retired in 1983.
She served two terms on the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Board of Trustees,
retiring in June 1994.
In 2001, Mrs. Thompson was named Woman of the Year for Carrollton by the
Women's Charity Organization of the Metrocrest.
In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Thompson is survived by two sons, Kirk
Thompson of South Fork, Colo., and John Thompson of Carrollton; two
sisters, Barbara Pratt of Lanham, Md., and Selena Van Cleve of Salinas,
Calif.; two brothers, John Stewart of Moscow, Pa., and Ray Van Cleve of
Santa Fe, N.M; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to the Danny Thompson Scholarship Fund in honor of
her late son at the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD Educational
Foundation, 1820 Pearl St., Building B, Carrollton, Texas 75006
Submitted by Edward
Lynn Williams |
Carrollton to name school for educator -
District's 1st female principal to be honored
Author: Marice Richter, Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News
After six decades of affiliation with the Carrollton-Farmers Branch
school district, June Rhoton Thompson's name is familiar to thousands of
area residents.
A recent move by the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district will make
her name familiar to youngsters for generations to come. Future students
may never meet Mrs. Thompson, 68, but they will attend the Carrollton
elementary school named in her honor.
A few weeks ago, the school board voted to rename Woodlake Elementary as
June Rhoton Thompson Elementary. It was a fitting move, school district
officials say, because Mrs. Thompson was the first principal of the
school that opened in 1973, and she also was the district's first female
principal.
But her affiliation and contributions to the district go far beyond the
principal's post. A native of Carrollton, she attended Carrollton
Elementary and graduated from Carrollton High School in 1943.
She has been a teacher, administrator and principal in the district, and
her four children are graduates of the school system. After retiring,
she served six years on the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school board,
ending her service in 1994.
"This was a well-deserved honor for her and one of the most appropriate
things we've ever done," said Don Sheffield, who retired from the board
earlier this month after 31 years, including 23 as president. "We talked
about doing it in the past but decided to wait until she retired from
the board.
"I'm proud to say that getting this done was one of my last acts as
president."
Mrs. Thompson said she was surprised by the gesture.
"I had no idea this was happening" she said. "But, of course, I am very
honored."
Carrollton and Farmers Branch were small towns when Mrs. Thompson was
growing up in the 1930s. Her parents were divorced, and she and her
mother lived with Mrs. Thompson's grandparents, who operated a dry goods
store and funeral home in downtown Carrollton. Rhoton Funeral Home is
still in business, but her family sold it long ago. Her grandfather, J.T.
Rhoton, was Carrollton's second mayor.
Her mother taught expression, a forerunner of speech, part time at
Carrollton High School, and as a youth Mrs. Thompson became interested
in teaching. After graduating from high school, she attended college for
a couple of years, locally and in Arizona where her mother had moved
after remarrying.
She married not long after the end of World War II and started a family.
Although she told her husband, J.W. Thompson, she intended to finish
school some day, that plan was delayed as babies kept coming.
Mr. Thompson served on the district's school board for several years in
the 1950s and developed a friendship with R.L. Turner, then
superintendent of schools. It was Mr. Turner who persuaded her to go
back to school.
"By this point, it had been years since I had been in school and was
reluctant to go back," she said. "But Mr. Turner talked me into taking
an extension class . . . and I made an A."
Before long, she was back in college. In the spring of 1958, she earned
a bachelor's degree from what is now the University of North Texas. And
that fall, she started teaching at her alma mater, Carrollton
Elementary.
Five years later, she became an instructional supervisor for elementary
education, a position she held until being named principal of Woodlake
Elementary in 1973.
Along the way, she earned two master's degrees - one from the University
of Texas at Dallas and another from Southern Methodist University - and
moved from Carrollton to Farmers Branch.
During her 10 years as principal of Woodlake, Mrs. Thompson placed
emphasis on developing quality fine arts programs. She arranged for
guest artists from Dallas theater companies to visit the school, and she
insisted that every student participate in some type of performing arts
production - a musical show, concert or play - every year.
"I knew this would be an experience that these children would remember
all their lives," she said. "I felt it was important to their personal
growth and development."
Mr. Sheffield said Mrs. Thompson's policy made a difference.
"You could tell just walking into Woodlake that something very special
was going on there," he said. "The kids seemed ready to learn and were
eager and excited to come to school."
Although she loved her job, she decided to retire in 1983. But five
years later, she realized she missed the association with education and
the district and decided to run for the school board. She had no
opponent during her first race and overwhelmingly defeated a challenger
for re-election.
"As an educator, I felt I had knowledge and experience to bring to the
board," she said. "Several friends had encouraged me to run, so I
decided to do it."
One accomplishment during her tenure that she is particularly proud of
was naming a new school for Annie Heads Rainwater, a black woman and
lifelong resident of Carrollton whose efforts on behalf of her
children's education in the 1950s was a key factor in integrating the
district's schools.
Although Mrs. Thompson considers herself fortunate that so many
opportunities came her way over the years, her life has not been without
tragedy. About 20 years ago, her youngest son, Danny, was killed in an
automobile accident.
"It was the worst thing that ever happened to us as a family and me as a
mother," she said. "I don't think I will ever fully get over it."
Her other three children still live in the area and two, Kirk Thompson
and Sharon Thompson, are teachers in the
Carrollton-Farmers Branch district. Her son John works for the federal
government in Dallas and has three children.
Kirk Thompson, who teaches English at R.L. Turner High School, held a
variety of jobs before finding his way into education two years ago.
But, he said, it was his mother's influence that led him to teaching.
"I wanted a job where you never get bored and you are continuing
learning," he said. "Well, teaching is it. I never get bored and I learn
something new everyday."
Now that she's retired from the school board, Mrs. Thompson's retains a
tie to the district through the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Schools Alumni
Association, which she is helping organize. She is also a member of
several civic and community organizations and enjoys spending summers in
Colorado with her family.
"Sometimes it's still hard for me to believe I'm retired," she said.
"Time passes so quickly."
The Dallas Morning News - Sunday, June 25, 1995
Submitted by Edward
Lynn Williams |
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THOMPSON
J.W. "Dub" July 28, 1919 - Apr 30, 1997
JUNE RHOTON - AUG 12, 1926 - JULY 26, 2008
Restland Memorial Park, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
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