Cecil Daniel Thompson, Sr., 89 of Gordonsville, Virginia was called home to his heavenly father from Morningside Assisted Living in Charlottesville, Virginia on Monday, September 15, 2008. Old and new friends, family members and love ones surrounded him during his final days.

He was born September 24, 1918 in Gordonsville, Virginia. He was the forth of nine children born to the late Fred Webster and Alice Rebecca Thompson. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 55 years, Anna Bullock Thompson. Four brothers, Frederick L. Thompson, Conliffe Reginald Thompson, Calvin Terrell Thompson, Charles Alexander Thompson, and one sister, Kathleen Marie Brewer, also preceded him in death.

Mr. Thompson is survived by his two children, Darlene Cowell and her husband, Leon, of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and Cecil D. Thompson, Jr., and his wife Colette of Keswick, Virginia;
three grandchildren, Ryan and Kimberly Thompson, and Julian Cowell; two sisters, Delores Alexander and her husband William Alexander of Capital Heights, Maryland, and Verna Anderson of Gordonsville, Virginia; two brother in laws, David and Emmett Bullock of Palmyra, Virginia and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

He was blessed to have dedicated physicians in Dr. Robert Ooghe, and Dr. Bruce Clemons, and several caretakers to include Ms. Evelyn Johnson, Ms. Shirley Harris, and many nurses, and resident assistants from Morningside Assisted Living and Hospice of the Piedmont.

Cecil Thompson, Sr. was World War II veteran, (1942-1946), a life and founding member of the Union Baptist Church, where he served over five decades as a Sunday School Teacher, Bible Class Teacher, Chairman of the Trustee Board, (Trustee Emeritus) Chairman of the Deacon Board, (Deacon Emeritus) and Church Historian. He also served as the First Vice Moderator of the Piedmont Layman and Deacons Union, a member of the Jefferson Lodge #20, Free and Accepted Masons, PHA, a Past Worthy Patron, Monticello # 43 PHA, Order of the Eastern Star of Virginia, and a member of the Orange County Branch of the NAACP. He was also a founding member of the Woodberry Cemetery Association in Gordonsville.

After working as a cook on the C&O Railroad, in 1971 he received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Education from Virginia Union University, in Richmond, Virginia. He taught middle school history and careers for 14 years, before retiring from Louisa County Public Schools in 1983.

The funeral service will be held at12:00 noon, Friday, September 19, 2008 at Union Baptist Church of Gordonsville, Virginia, with Reverend James Jackson, officiating. Interment will follow at the Culpepper National Cemetery on Monday, September 22, 2008.