Judith Marie (Hemberger) Thompson

Judith Marie (Hemberger) Thompson, 63, of Othello, died Sunday March 21 in her home with her family by her side. She courageously battled Inflammatory Breast Cancer for 8 years.

Judie was born on March 30, 1946 in Crookston, MN to Paul and Loretta (Arends) Hemberger. She attended school at Herberg Township and high school at St. Benedict Academy in Crookston. While attending college she worked at Red Owl Inc. and for Bell Telephone. She met Arlen Thompson in 1963 in Halstad, MN and they married on October 23, 1965. They moved to Othello, WA in 1977 where Judie worked at the Othello Community Hospital for the last 21 years.

Judie was passionate about life, she enjoyed traveling with her family to Badger Lake to fish, playing cards with her friends, driving her golf cart around, trips to Cabo San Lucas as well as other destinations, and most of all being with her grandchildren and family. She took great pleasure in watching hummingbirds at the lake. Since she was unable to attract any in Othello she began collecting hummingbird figurines and artwork. She was a member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church and was involved with the Othello Cancer Support Group, and she took every opportunity to educate people about Inflammatory Breast Cancer.

Her father Paul and sister Carol Ann preceded Judie in death. She is survived by her husband of 44 years, Arlen of Othello, a son Todd (Jeannie) of Kennewick, daughters Jana McDonald (James) of Spokane and Lisa Adams (Artie) of Othello, 7 grandchildren; Kendra, Tyler, Makeila, Riley, Bridget, Sydney and Artie Jr. Also her mother Loretta Hemberger of Halstad, MN, sisters Jean Clark of Detroit Lakes, MN and Paulette Bruins (Jason) of Divide, CO, her brothers Tom Hemberger (Kim) of Hillsboro, ND, Dave Hemberger (Barb) of Bettendorf, IA, Dale Hemberger (Judy) of Underwood, MN and Ron Hemberger (Sue) of Halstad, MN.

A time for final visitation will be held at Stevens Funeral Chapel on Monday March 29, 2010 from 3:00 until 7:00 PM. A vigil service will be held at the chapel at 6:00 PM. Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday March 30, 2010 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church at 11:00 AM.

Memorials are suggested to the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation in Judie’s memory. P.O. Box 1337, Moses Lake, WA 98837.

You are invited to sign the guest book and leave a note for the family at stevensfuneralchapel.com.