Leatrice "Lea" Thompson

Leatrice “Lea” Thompson, 87, of Burgess, Illinois died Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at Mercer Manor in Aledo.

Funeral services are 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 5th at Dennison Funeral Home, Viola.  Burial will be in Viola Cemetery.  Following the graveside service, all are welcome to a Celebration of Life at the Viola Community Center for a time of food and shared memories.  Memorials may be left for Fur-Ever Friends of Mercer County, PO Box 32, Aledo, IL 61231.

Leatrice Joy Hunt was born in Edmonson County, Kentucky on November 26, 1931; the daughter of Roy Schyler and Eva May Hogan Hunt.  Her family moved to Mercer County when she was a young girl.  She married Maurice “Tate” Riddell on September 17, 1953 in Mississippi.  He died January 3, 1975.  She then married Maynard Eugene Thompson on April 25, 1976 at the Sunbeam Presbyterian Church, Aledo.  They have lived in the Burgess community since their marriage.  Lea worked as a waitress for many years.  She loved to work in her gardens and tend to her animals.  She so enjoyed teaching her granddaughters how to garden, cook, drink coffee and play cards.  She was a member of the Viola American Legion Auxiliary.

Lea is survived by her husband:  Maynard; her sons:  John Thompson, Aledo and James (Sandra) Dunbar, Biggsville; granddaughters:  Stacy (Joe) DeVoss, Rock Island and Amy (Larry) Myers, Monmouth; great-grandchildren:  Taelor Cooper, McCree, Riley and Natalee DeVoss and Aidan and Andrew Myers; sisters-in-law:  Mary Hunt and Marilyn Hunt, both of Belvidere, Betty Thompson, Viola and Jean Thompson, Rock Island and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, infant son Brian, her parents, brothers Roy, Willard, James and Larry (and his wife Judy) and sister Doris.

Online condolences may be left at www.dennisonfuneralhome.com.