Neal Thompson

Neal Thompson, long time resident of the White Mountains, peacefully passed away last week. His funeral services will be held at the LDS Lakeside Chapel 1520 Church Lane Lakeside on Saturday, April 23rd. Viewing will begin at 1:00 pm with funeral service at 2:30. Additional viewing will be held on Friday, April 22nd from 5:00 -7:00 pm at the Owens Livingston Mortuary 320 N 9th St, Show Low, AZ 85901.

Neal was born in Tremonton, Utah on December 1, 1942 to VerNon Thompson, a construction worker who taught him the value of hard work and humor, and Faye Wood Thompson, a devoted mother and hairstylist who taught him how to genuinely love people. He is survived by his two younger brothers Ron Thompson of Ogden, UT and Tim Thompson of Tremonton, UT.

Neal was, perhaps above all, a people person. He loved meeting and interacting with people. In his youth, Neal enjoyed the camaraderie and competitiveness of football, track, baseball and basketball. He played on the Varsity teams and lettered in each sport. He began his lifelong role as leader as Senior Class President at Bear River High and was the Master of Ceremonies for many reunions over the years including his recent 60 year High School reunion where he loved reuniting with long time friends.

Neal loved the Lord. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Western States mission which included parts of 8 states. He was a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and held many callings including serving for 11 years on the Pinetop-Lakeside Stake High Council. He loved connecting with local congregations and spoke countless times in congregations around the area, including in the White Mountain Fort Apache and McNary areas.

Neal started his career in the telephone industry working for Continental Telephone in his early 20’s. Putting the hard work ethic he learned from his father into action, he worked his way up over many years and many cities, eventually retiring as a Vice President for GTE in Show Low - having never changed companies, only company names changing through the years. He was instrumental in having the building that is currently used as Show Low City Hall constructed to service the telephone company. After taking early retirement from GTE, his love for interacting with people took on the new form of working as a Realtor with Realty Executives White Mountains in Pinetop. His sincere desire to find each client exactly what they were looking for led to a successful real estate business with his wife Carol as his partner. Being a career telephone man, Neal was known by his family to answer the phone every time it rang. This dedicated service to his clients was well recognized as he was consistently in the top agents in the area for years.

Neal loved the community. He devoted countless hours to serving on boards and organizations. He was on the Frontier State Bank board in the 80’s. He had a lasting impact on the Northland Pioneer College board which he served on for 24 years. He loved playing golf, especially at Pinetop Country Club and served on their board as well. For the last 20 years he has served on the Summit Healthcare hospital board, which he was still a member of at his time of passing. He greatly respected the hospital and its many devoted physicians, medical staff and employees. He was passionate about helping Summit Healthcare be an asset to the community.

He is survived by the people he loved the most: his wife of 41 years Carol Thompson of Pinetop and his 6 children: Sindy (Ernie) Ingerson of Heber City, UT, Kristy (Richard) Buckman of Round Rock, TX, Shawn (Tiffiny) Thompson of Odgen, UT, Angela (Duncan) Alney of Indianapolis, IN, Kelly (David) Merrell of Show Low, AZ and Kacie (Derek) Flake of Pinetop, AZ. And last, but certainly not least, his 19 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.