Local News
St. Mark’s Deacon Thompson Leaves Legacy Of Love
Published: November 4, 2004
CLARKESVILLE—Though he left behind a mourning parish family when he died on Oct. 9, Deacon John Thompson also left a unique legacy of tangible examples of God’s love for thousands who had crossed his path.
A deacon at St. Mark Church in Clarkesville, Deacon Thompson was ordained in 1987. Deacon Thompson and his wife, Ruth, were among the founders of the parish, helping to arrange for a location and priest for weekly Mass for the small community of committed Catholics, after moving to Clarkesville from Connecticut in 1956. St. Mark’s was established as a parish in 1964, and the original church was dedicated in 1968.
Following his ordination to the permanent diaconate, Deacon Thompson began a prison ministry at what is now the Lee Arrendale Correctional Institution in Alto, and frequently referred to “the boys” at the prison during his homilies, speaking of his love for his ministry to the inmates.
Deacon Richard Marinchak, who also serves at St. Mark’s, said that he was so impressed with Deacon Thompson and his work at the prison that he chose to follow in his footsteps after his own ordination to the diaconate in 2002.
“I remember John’s first Mass as a deacon—how joyful and excited he was,” he said. “John was my mentor as I went through the diaconate program—he was always ready and eager to help me.”
When Deacon Thompson retired from prison ministry because of health reasons, he maintained correspondence with many of the young men whose lives he touched.
As a couple the Thompsons were very active in charitable work in the community, said Mary Ruth Jones, director of religious education at the parish.
The couple served particularly those less fortunate through the ecumenical ministry of Sharing and Caring, a ministry staffed by volunteers from many local churches that offers financial support and food to those in need and runs thrift stores in Clarkesville and Cornelia to support the ministry.
“John and Ruth worked many hours over the years giving budgeting advice to families in need, sharing food with the hungry and finding shelter for transients and the homeless,” Jones said.
An expert craftsman, Deacon Thompson spent hours in his woodworking shop, making art out of items most people would discard. He was loved at the parish, Jones said, for his gentle approach to sharing the faith. He lived by the motto and shared the message of “JOY—Jesus and Others first before Yourself”—with people of all ages.
“His birdhouses are delightful, and he is best remembered for his ‘JESUS’ signs—at first it looks like a maze, but if you spend enough time in His presence, you see the true meaning of love—Jesus,” Jones said.
Over the years, Deacon Thompson made and gave away more than 1,000 of these handmade JESUS signs to family, friends, new members of the parish, visitors, candidates for confirmation and the newly baptized.
But Deacon Thompson’s unique gift for sharing his faith through art was not limited to just the signs.
He crafted small wooden crosses with the equation “70 x 7” written on them, handing them out to children, youth and adults to remind them about the need to forgive others and to seek forgiveness. Later in his life, one of his “favorite endeavors,” Jones said, was crafting and giving away wooden nickels—small discs the size of a nickel with phrases such as “God loves you,” “Lent Repent,” or “Pray for Peace” written on them.
“Many parishioners have noted lately how they remember reaching into their pockets and being touched to find one of John’s special ‘coins,’” Jones said. “John believed he was the richest man on earth because he could make ‘wooden nickels.’ We all know that the messages he wrote on them shared the key to true wealth and happiness.”
Blessed not only with a creative gift but also with a sense of humor, Deacon Thompson knew just how to respond when St. Mark pastor Father Luis Zarama teasingly asked Deacon Thompson what he thought purgatory might be like for the ailing man during the last week of his life.
“He said, ‘I think I’ll be set to cleaning up St. Joseph’s workshop,’” Father Zarama said.
It was Deacon Thompson who, for at least a decade, gave the annual talk to the parish about fulfilling their pledges for the Archdiocesan Annual Appeal.
“At the end of the talk, he promised a new poem would be composed and ready for recital when the pledge goal was met,” Jones remembered. “He was true to his word, as were the parishioners, and all were entertained with another of John’s original, delightful poems.”
Deacon Thompson also was involved in helping to teach the children of the parish the Ten Commandments. Under the direction of parishioner Betty Schulz, all of the school-aged children at St. Mark recited the Ten Commandments from memory and presented the deacon with a signed “affidavit” to prove it.
Truly beloved by those who knew him, Deacon Thompson welcomed scores of visitors, young and old, to his hospital room during the last two weeks of his life. Sometimes he would sing or share a story, Jones said, or he would have a message to share, such as his desire to see the children of the parish continue in their service to the Lord as altar servers.
“He delighted in the joy of the children and took special care to remember their names and speak to them individually and often,” Jones said.
Many St. Mark parishioners say Deacon Thompson was the first person they met at the parish and the first person to greet them when they entered the doors of the church. And for many of those parishioners who were touched by the gentle faith of the deacon’s life, many more were touched by the 85-year-old’s death, Jones said.
“Everyone who had the joy of spending a few moments with John and Ruth during those precious last days was moved to tears at his strength and courage,” she said. “He faced his death with the faith of a person who had a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Deacon Thompson is survived by his wife, Ruth, his daughters and sons-in-law, Carol and Leon Womack and Jane and Robert Gordon, and two grandsons, Tommy and John Craton.
