Elsa Mae (Berg) THOMPSON

THOMPSON, BERG, JARSHAW, WALL, CANGELOSI, KOSBERG, OLSON, DEMARIE, SCHERZINGER, ABBAS, NICHOLSEN, POPP

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:43

March 30, 1924 --- September 13, 2019

Elsa Mae Thompson, age 95, of Ames, beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, died on September 13, 2019 at Northcrest Community Health Center.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 AM on Monday, September 23, 2019 at Bethesda Lutheran Church, 1517 Northwestern Ave, Ames, with visitation an hour prior to the service. Burial will be in the Amsterdam Township Cemetery in Kanawha, Iowa.

Elsa was born March 30, 1924, in Madison, Minnesota to Olga (Jarshaw) and Melvin Berg. After graduating from Madison High School, she majored in Child Development at Iowa State University. Just before her college graduation, she met her future husband, Tom Thompson. Tom and Elsa married in 1947, beginning 64 years of love and companionship. Elsa worked at the Pammel Court Daycare after graduation. The couple lived in several Iowa communities, including Sioux City and Waverly, before making Ames their permanent home in 1961.

Elsa was a homemaker and an active Bethesda Church member. She served her church faithfully as a Sunday School teacher and was a key member of the team that started the Bethesda Church preschool. She enjoyed participating in the church’s Scandinavian Coffees. Her life was centered around family, church, friends, and home. She had a particular interest not only in the lives of her own grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but also in the well-being of every child she met.

Elsa is survived by daughter Beth (Chris) Wall of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and son Mark (Barb) Thompson of Minneapolis; grandchildren Morgan (David) Cangelosi, John (Erin) Wall, Valerie Wall, Sonja (Adam) Kosberg, Luke (Carrie) Thompson, Abby (Kendric) Olson, and Kara (Adam) DeMarie; nine great-grandchildren; devoted niece, Susan (Keith) Berg, and other dear relatives and friends.

Elsa was preceded in death by her husband, Tom, her parents, sisters-in-law Inez Scherzinger, Alice Abbas, Jan Nicholsen, and Ruth Popp and a brother-in-law, Abe Thompson.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Elsa’s name may be directed to Bethesda Lutheran Church, 1517 Northwestern Ave, Ames, Iowa, 50010; or Northcrest Community, 1801 20th St, Ames, Iowa.

https://www.adamssoderstrum.com/obituaries/Elsa-Thompson?obId=7266741