The memorial service for Mary L. Thompson will be at 11:00a.m. Friday, January 5, 2018 in the River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home. The visitation will be held from 10:00a.m. until the time of the service on Friday.

Mary Luella Thompson, 87, of Rochester, passed away at Samaritan Bethany Nursing Home on January 1, 2018. She was born on April 21, 1930 to Joseph and Luella Walsh (Campion) in Olmsted County.

Mary graduated from Chatfield High School in 1947 and then two years of nursing classes at St. Marys, which began her career in the medical field as a nurse's aide at St. Marys before spending the last 25 years at Methodist Hospital, leaving as a ward secretary. As her years at Methodist wound down, Mary began to transition to foster care for teenage girls, sitting on boards and committees before letting her certification expire. The family hesitates to use the word "retire" because Mary talked about it but then discovered she could help someone and would always say yes! It seemed Mary never really did stop working.

Survivors include her children, Robert (Mary) of Stewartville, John "Butch" of Rochester, Helen (John) Lecher of Woodbury, Julie Thompson of Rochester, Kasey (Tanya) of Spring Grove; 12 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren; and one brother, John (Nancy) Walsh of Astoria, Oregon. She is preceded in death by her parents.

Memorials are preferred to Mayo Clinic of Rochester, MN.