William Alton Thompson

As some neighbors say, he has passed. He is Margot's husband, thus the son-in-law of Lillian Paris, who was one of Joseph Sonka's daughters.

When we first moved here, we found an old photograph album with pictures from the 50's, one of them Margot and Bill as teenagers sitting on the back stairs which led up to Margot's place, where she and her sister Jacqueline lived with their mother, Lillian. I gave the photo album to Margot or I'd post that picture here.

(By the way, as I was writing the above, all kinds of loud sounds reverberated, upstairs and down: doors slamming, things falling. I'm not particularly drawn to belief in ghosts, but I think maybe ....)

Here is the URL for Bill Thompson's funeral notice: http://www.penningtonfuneralhome.com/obituaries/william-alton-thompson/.

I had a great uncle named Alton, whose funeral I couldn't attend. I'll try to attend Bill Alton Thompson's.

Bill suffered from Parkinson's. I've seen recently a wonderful television segment, on PBS, about professional dancers who lead Dance for Parkinson's groups throughout the country. Maybe Bill will find the dancers. Maybe he will find the Lord of the Dance.

He was a kind and gentle man, as I knew him.

Once after my Tony died, in those days I was so bereft and so deeply sad, Margot and Bill drove all the way from Dripping Springs to visit me. Bill helped Margot load some of her grandfather's bricks into the back of their car. It was not that easy for him, with the Parkinson's, to carry a brick from ground to automobile, but he smiled as he did so.

I'll keep that memory of him.