Obituary of Orrin W. Thompson
Orrin William “Tommy” Thompson, 84, a lifelong resident of Enfield and Ellington communities, passed peacefully from this life, “on to the great fishing hole in the sky”, with his daughters by his side, his fishing pole in hand, peeper and lake song in his ears. He died on Monday afternoon, July the 2nd, 2018, at 3:10, which throughout his life signaled the end of his shift. Born to Mary Ruth Kowalski and Orrin W. Thompson, on a kitchen table in an Ellington farmhouse on Halloween night, Tommy spent his boyhood in mischief of fantastic sorts. His days were spent beside his friends teasing the meanest roosters, smoking woodpeckers from trees, tipping occupied outhouses, riding his beloved horse, fishing, and playing baseball. A voracious reader and gifted student with a genius IQ score, Tommy graduated from Rockville High School at the top of his class. Immediately following graduation, Tommy began working for The CT Dept of Transportation, East Windsor Branch, where he dedicated 38 years of exemplary service. Tommy, alongside his then-wife, Marilyn Kelley, raised four strong daughters in their Enfield home, where their summer garden was bountiful, Clancy lay snoozing beneath the oak, and lilacs surrounded the back stoop. He continued to work after retirement from DOT, in security positions, until the age of 80 when he finally fully retired. Tommy was a teacher of many things: the care in holding pumpkinseed and perch fins while removing a hook, how to pet a bumblebee, the cruciality of learning to drive a stick on East Windsor Hill, the best skipping rocks are found just inside the water’s edge, the intricacy of gutting and cooking a fish, gently but effectively pulling quills from a pup’s muzzle, the patience in allowing a birch to drop her own dressings, the beautiful differences between CT’s trout, and the most important lesson his daughters are recalling now- the warmest swim always comes after a storm. Tommy is survived by daughter Elizabeth Strouth of Owens Cross Roads, AL, son-in-law James, grandsons Christopher and Nathan ; Daughter Melissa Levasseur of Enfield, CT, son-in-law Tom, grandchildren Ben, Nick (Hillary), and Katie, great- grandchildren Liam and Amelia; Daughter Caroline Chouinard of Woodstock, CT, son-in-law Lee, grandchildren Joshua (Melanie) and Grace, great-granddaughter Ella; Daughter Emily King of Winsted, CT, son-in-law Chris, grandchildren Anna, Sam, Naomi, and Toby; His lifelong best friend and brother of his heart, Bill Guertin, and his family, of West Springfield, MA. Family will hold a private celebration of Tommy’s life. Donations in his memory may be made to ASPCA of CT. It is with grateful hearts we thank the nurses, physicians, surgeons, and staff of the CICU at St. Francis Hospital for their gentle, respectful, capable care of our dad. GO UCONN GIRLS! GO SOX!