Marion S. Tompkins

Marion Tompkins, 93, passed away March 16th, 2016, at the Solarbron Terrace in Evansville, Indiana. She lived a full and adventurous life. Marion was born in Albany, New York and like her mother and father had a musical talent. She played the piano and organ at her church even as a young girl. She had a special appetite for movies, theatre and Broadway shows. She often wrote to movie studios to get autographed photos of the early film stars. When World War II broke out, she joined the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women’s Reserve, known as the SPARS, which enlisted women to do shore duty while men to sea. The name SPARS is a contraction of the Coast Guard motto: Semper Paratus and its English translation, “Always Ready.” When the War ended, Marion took advantage of the G.I. Bill and enrolled in the first class of Paul Smith’s College in the Adirondack Mountains of New York in 1946. It was a school populated with lots of guys fresh out of the Army and only a handful of women. She found herself attracted to a rugged hockey player and forestry student who happened to also be one of the few guys on campus to own a Jeep. She married Arthur S. Tompkins III, the grandson of a former New York Congressman. They moved often while raising four children-from New York to Ohio then to Kentucky. Arthur was a timber buyer for tool and shovel manufacturers. Marion’s jobs were as diverse as her interests. In Troy, Ohio, she was an organizer for The Camp Fire Girls organization. When the family moved to Caldwell County, Kentucky in 1968, she took a job as a records clerk at the Kentucky State Penitentiary where she worked until her retirement. In retirement, she donated her time to the local art guild. She traveled at every opportunity-to Europe, Hawaii, New York and anywhere she could take in a Broadway show or concert. Marion moved to Solarbron where she played many impromptu piano concerts for her friends and she worked as a volunteer at Deaconess Hospital. She leaves a legacy of four children, (Janice Ziliak Clark, Art, Geoff and Al Tompkins) seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Marion loved flowers, donkeys, cats and music. She spent countless hours in the stands of Little League ball games, horse shows and school plays. The family plans a private memorial. In Marion’s honor, the family urges you to watch a great old movie, listen to a show tune and laugh out loud.

Marion S. Tompkins

May 17, 1922 - March 16, 2016