After a hard-fought battle against the effects of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, Susan Kaye Thompson of Longview, Texas was called home to join her heavenly Father on September 4, 2018. Susan was a force to reckon with from the time she was born in Indianapolis, IN on December 23, 1947 to Richard Lee Groninger and Harriett "Hattie" Deloris Rexroat Groninger. She was misdiagnosed in 1947 as mentally retarded and "dumb" along with mild cerebral palsy, and it was recommended that she be institutionalized. A few years later, a doctor rightly understood that she was deaf and certainly not dumb and recommended she be in school. She overcame her physical challenges and learned to walk. She overcame prejudices, even while being forced to attend a school for the deaf that refused to teach sign language until she was nearly 11 years old—and only received about a year and a half of instruction. She overcame communication barriers and learned to lip read.

At the age of 16, Susan met John Michael Thompson in Nantucket, MA, where he was stationed while in the Navy. He only saw "the prettiest girl on the island" and decided he was going to date her despite being threatened with bodily harm by her father, a Navy Chief. They married soon after on December 19, 1964 at the tender ages of 16 and 19. He showed her a whole new world that involved teaching her everything that others said she couldn't learn. She loved him with her whole heart for 53 years, often traveling across country from Massachusetts, to Texas, Guam, Oregon, Washington, South Dakota, and finally back to Texas. With John, she raised a family of five children: Kathy Poynor, Tammy Smith, Terri Cobb, Susan Oney, and Michael Thompson, who all went on to give her nine beautiful grandchildren: Meghan Poynor, Jordan Smith, Sydney & Sloan Cobb, Blaine & Liam Oney, and Roman, Bentley, & Kiley Thompson. She considered her sons and daughter-in-law, Paul Poynor, Jr., David Smith, Mike Cobb, Floyd Oney, and Michelle Thompson, to also be her children.

Susan's determination and stubbornness helped her overcome obstacles and achieve success over and over when she had been previously told "You can't do…" She learned to read as her children learned to read in school. She got her driver's license at the age of 37 when her oldest daughter did the same thing. She got her first job in her 40s to help her husband during the construction market crash of the 1990s. She was fiercely independent. Her faith was a cornerstone of her life as she raised her children in the Catholic Church. She firmly believed that her children should live a life that embodied respect for others and put God at the forefront. Her strength, courage, and determination will be her legacy. Her children and grandchildren know what it means to have a strong matriarch in the family, and her spirit will be missed.

A Mass of Christian Burial for Mrs. Susan Thompson will be held at 2:00p.m. Monday, September 10, 2018 at St. Joseph Catholic Church with Rev. Monsignor Zach Kunnakkattuthara officiating. Visitation will be held from 6-7 p.m. and rosary will be held from 7-8p.m. Sunday, September 9, 2018 at Downs Funeral Home.