Zona Thompson - A Tribute

Zona Norris Rich was born in Percilla, Texas in Houston County on November 16, 1925 to Albert Rich and Clara Jones Rich.

Zona's lifelong friend from childhood was Edith Deerman. Click here to read Edith's memories of growing up with Zona in the Palestine area.

Ben: Zona graduated from Palestine High School and then attended Nixon Business College in Palestine.   After graduation, she went to work for Royall Bank in the Bookkeeping Department, posting the activity to the bank statements. Sometimes she would have to work late balancing the accounts and getting the statements out.   She could really make those posting machines talk.   Zona was the fastest on an adding machine or a posting machine than anyone I’ve ever seen.

Then in at the bank in College Station, she was a Proof Clerk, posting and balancing the transactions between banks.   She would also work in the Bookkeeping Department if they needed her to.

When we moved to Houston in 1952, she was expecting, but was feeling fine and wanted to work, so she applied at First City National Bank, and they hired her immediately. She worked on a posting machine there. Then when Bill was born in 1953, she quit the job to stay home with the baby.   From then on she was a full-time homemaker.   Lynne was born in 1955.

Bill: Zona was very active in the PTA at Park Place Elementary School.   She also taught Sunday School at Park Place Baptist Church.

Here are some of my childhood memories of Zona:

-    Zona had a great sense of humor and a hearty, infectious laugh.   When she laughed, she would lean back and laugh loud and long, and then say “Oh, Shoot!”

-    She would ably assist Ben when he would play a practical joke on someone.   Examples are the dribble glass, the plate wobbler, and the whoopee cushion.

-    She loved to watch the soap opera “As The World Turns” every day at 12:30 PM.   Then she would discuss the latest episode with Uncle Jim and Aunt Louise, who lived next door.

-    Zona was not a musician, but she dearly loved music. She always had the pop hits going on the car radio.   She was always singing while cleaning the house, doing dishes or doing laundry.   Some of the popular songs I remember her singing back in the 50’s are:

Music Music Music (Put Another Nickel In)
Tammy
The Wayward Wind
Sugartime
A Wonderful Time Up There
Broken Hearted Melody
Tennessee Waltz
A Bushel and A Peck

She would also sing hymns and gospel songs.

-    She was diligent about getting us to our piano lessons and then making sure we practiced during the week.

-    She would cook Southern-style dishes that she knew from growing up in Palestine, like pot roast, green beans, and cornbread.

-    Sometimes as an afternoon treat for us, she would bake some pie crust sticks with cinnamon sugar on them.

-    Her own favorite afternoon snack was a glass of cornbread with buttermilk poured on top of it.

-    She walked us to school (about 2 miles) until we were old enough to ride our bikes to school.

-    As part of the PTA program, she would sometimes help sell snow cones to the students after school on snow cone day.

-    Zona was very dedicated about helping raise funds annually for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and for the March of Dimes to fight birth defects.

-    She loved going back to Palestine to see relatives and to get out of the city for a while.

-    Zona liked to wear casual clothes like “pedal pushers” and flats during the week, but on Sunday she would always dress very nicely.   I remember she had a reversible purse: it was black with white beads on it, but when turned inside out, it was white with multicolored beads on it.   It would color-coordinate with anything.

-    In the summers, once we learned to swim, she would take us out to the Humble Country Club on Almeda-Genoa to swim.   We would have an ice chest of canned drinks and a picnic lunch, and drive out there with the windows rolled down and great music on the radio.

Ben: We took the family trip to Disneyland in 1960, and then in 1961 we were up at Palestine. Hazel had a problem with her breast, and so she suggested that Zona examine herself too, and they found the lump in her left breast.   So Hazel made arrangements for Zona to see her doctor in Palestine while we were up there.   The doctor said he didn’t think there was anything wrong, but she had better get this checked in Houston.     So back in Houston she set up an appointment with Dr. Kennedy.   Dr. Kennedy scheduled a biopsy in Methodist Hospital.     They found the tumor was malignant, and so they had to remove her left breast. They also took the lymph nodes under her left arm.   But after the surgery she got along great, and they felt like at the time that she was going to be all right.

She didn’t have any more signs of trouble until December 1964, when she started having a persistent cough.    The oncologist, Dr. Hoaglin, recommended a hysterectomy, which was considered effective at that time, to reduce hormone activity.   That procedure was done in early January 1965, and she improved so much and X-rays showed the tumor had shrunk to a very small size.   They were very encouraged.

We have good pictures of Zona with the family on Valentines Day 1965.   But by the first part of March, she was becoming ill again with a persistent cough.   She taught Sunday School on Sunday, March 28.   She started feeling very ill on Tuesday.    Zona was admitted to Hermann Hospital on Wednesday, March 31.   Hazel and Nannie came down to help out.   Ben stayed with Zona at the hospital through Thursday night.   Hazel relieved him late Friday morning so he could go home and shave and rest.   But about noon Hazel called Ben to come back to the hospital. Zona was having terrible trouble breathing.   She passed away about 20 minutes after Ben returned to the hospital. The autopsy showed that the cancer had spread to her heart muscle, and caused heart failure.   That is the reason that the end came so quickly.

Zona passed away on Friday, April 2, 1965.

Bill: Lynne and I knew that our Mom was sick, because we had gone down to see her earlier that week in the hospital.   But we had no idea how serious her condition was.   We rode our bikes home from school that Friday and saw a driveway full of cars, which was unusual.   We went in and Dad was there and everybody was crying, so we knew something was wrong. Dad sat us down on the couch and broke the news to us: “Mom’s gone to be with Jesus.”   We were in a state of shock.

The arrangements were handled by Niday Funeral Home.   The funeral service was held at Park Place Baptist Church on Monday, April 5, 1965, followed by the graveside service at Forest Park East.

I am so thankful to God for Zona Thompson, a wonderful mother who, along with our dad Ben Thompson, raised us in a Christian home that was filled with love, laughter and music.

(Bill Thompson)