The family, friends and the community lost a good man with the passing of Paul Thompson on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, when he lost a brave fight with Parkinson’s disease.
Paul Thompson Jr., was born on July 5, 1942, to Paul Sr. and Marion Thompson in San Fernando, Calif. He lived most of his life in Clarkston, graduating as a proud Bantam from Clarkston High School in 1961.
Paul married Judy Martin on June 1, 1963. Together, with love, they produced a family of four children and added several bonus kids to the mix through their 60 years of marriage.
Paul began employment at Washington Machinery in Lewiston in 1962. In 1964, he also joined the Pepsi-Cola family, loading trucks at night part-time. He soon became a full-time employee with Pepsi as a route salesman, then proceeded to sales manager and lastly to vice president of sales. He retired from Pepsi in 2001. Paul was grateful to the Prasil family for their support and friendship, as well as his many co-workers who became close life-long friends.
In 2001, six months after retiring from Pepsi, Paul became the golf coach at Lewis-Clark State College. During his time as coach, he led the men’s team to nine conference titles. Under his watch, the women competed at nationals nine times and won six Frontier Conference titles. Paul was named the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year six times as the men’s coach and twice as the women’s coach. In 2014-2015, both men’s and women’s teams won Frontier Conference titles and automatic bids to nationals. He was also honored by the Golf Coaches Association as its Regional Coach of the year in the 2010-2011 season. After finishing coaching in 2015, Paul stayed on as a Warrior Athletic Association (WAA) member. During his time on the board he was a key player in the establishment of the WAA endowment, the Master Golf Auction, Texas Holdem Tournaments, High School Awards and helped secure some of the largest individual donations in LCSC Athletics history. In 2017, he was awarded the Lifetime Warrior Award for his outstanding commitment to Warrior Athletics. Again, during his 14 years at LCSC he formed many lasting friendships.
Paul was involved in several organizations throughout his life including the Lions Club, the American Legion Baseball Committee, the Moose Lodge and the Clarkston Eagles Club.
Paul’s most cherished role was as Dad and Papa to his four children, 12 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and his bonus children. His four children were asked to share a special memory of their father: Polly said she felt very lucky to have so many wonderful memories of her dad which made it difficult to pick just one special one, but she cherishes the fact that he was present at every single event in her life, not only in her childhood, but including her adulthood. One memory that she shared was when Paul sawed off a golf club for her oldest son when he was a toddler, and he became a fixture golfing with his Papa from that day forward; Tami said she is so thankful to have had the most amazing dad who was always there with her in every way. She appreciated the way he loved her mom and all of his kids and bonus kids, and how if you were important to her you were important to him. She admired his passion for his family, his friends and his work. He was always honest, always kind and a “hand shake and his word” kind of human. She can’t wait to dance with him again some day. Love you forever Big Shooter; Todd said the memory that first came to his mind was when he was in Little League and kept pestering his dad, who was also his coach, to let him pitch. He said it was an example of his dad always talking positively and encouraging him, even when he had a “Bull Durham” moment and threw the pitch over the back stop. At that point his dad came out to the mound, calmed him down, and told him,“You got this!” He said he always knew his dad believed in him; Scott shared that one of the greatest gifts his dad gave him was teaching him to love sports and competition. He was our first coach, and always our biggest fan. It didn’t matter what the sport or game was, he played to win. From the time I was born to the day of his passing, he never “let” me win. It taught me to be a competitor, and I learned to love and crave a good contest, just like my Dad. Love you Pops.
Paul is survived by his wife Judy; his daughter and son-in-law, Polly and Rich Knutson, and their children C.J., Cooper and Jillian; his daughter, Tami Skow, and her children Caleigh and husband Nick Atkinson and their children Jesse and Briggs, and her daughter Ryleigh; his son and daughter in-law, Todd and Kim Thompson, and their children Matthew and wife Ashley, Cydney, Trevor, Maddie and Lilli; his son and daughter in-law, Scott and Cara Thompson, and their children Katie and husband Adam Babino and their children Hunter and Carson, and son, Andrew Thompson.
Survivors also include his brother-in-law Don Scheibe, his sister Barbara Bennett, his sister and brother in-law Dona and Ray VanTrease, his brother and sister in-law Jim and Lisa Utz, and all of his nieces and nephews.
Paul was preceded in death by his mother and father, his stepfather Harry Utz, his sister Helen Scheibe, his brother-in-law Joe Bennett, and his in-laws Jim and Gwen Martin.
The family would like to express sincere gratitude to the 911 emergency services that so compassionately helped with assistance and transportation throughout a trying time; TriState Health Emergency Room staff for their care and assistance; Life Care Center of Lewiston for their care, compassion and understanding; Elite Home Health and Hospice for all of their excellent services, care, compassion and guidance; and all of the many friends who so kindly brought food, supplies, flowers, cards and lots of hugs and support. Paul was loved by so many.
There will be a celebration of life for Paul from 4-6 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 6, at Red Wolf Golf Club, 1676 Elm St., Clarkston. There will be appetizers, dessert and a no-host bar.
