Hal Dean Thompson, 67, of Des Moines passed away Thursday, April 18, 2019, at HCI Kavanaugh House in Des Moines.
Celebration of life services will be 2 p.m. Saturday, April 27, at The Thoreau Center, 3500 Kingman Boulevard, in Des Moines. Family will receive friends one hour prior. The Des Moines Gay Men's Chorus, of which Hal was a member, will sing a tribute conducted by Rebecca Gruber. A balloon launch will immediately follow services. A private scattering of ashes will take place in Butterfly Memorial Garden in Glendale Cemetery in Des Moines. Memorial contributions may be directed to Des Moines Gay Men's Chorus, P.O. Box 12269, Des Moines, IA 50312 or The Project of Primary Health Care, a nonprofit corporation in Des Moines, IA 50314, to be used for the benefit of patients living with HIV. Pearson Family Funeral Service and Cremation Center, 809 W. Montgomery St., in Creston has been entrusted locally where memories may be shared online at www.pearsonfuneralhomes.com.
Hal Dean Thompson, the son of Theodore James and Leota Maxine (White) Thompson, was born May 27, 1951, in Des Moines. Hal was raised in Winterset, where he graduated from Winterset High School with the class of 1969. He enjoyed time spent with his parents at their Gambles Store. After receiving his degree from Iowa State University in Ames, Hal began a full-time career with the United States Postal Service in Des Moines and was a member of the American Postal Workers Union. He was proud of his many years of commitment and happy to be a member of the Retired Postal Service Group.
Hal enjoyed photography and was always eager to share beautiful pictures he had taken while judging Hot Air Balloon competitions all over the world as well as those here locally. He served as chief observer and debriefer for the National Balloon Festival in Indianola from 1984 to 1990. Beginning in 1990, the Nationals moved to Arizona, and Hal continued his involvement in Balloons over Iowa.
Hal loved family! Whether compiling ancestry information for the Whites or Thompsons, he was always eager to share. Hal never showed up to a family gathering without photos or folders of information. Some of Hal’s favorite memories were fun times with cousins and their families. Hal’s many cousins were his first, best and lifelong friends ... the Thompsons, all three families of the Whites, the Shields, the McKnights, the Browns, his Kennedy cousins, and the last few years, the Kilgores (cousins to his own cousins).
Preceding Hal in death were his parents; two brothers, Sergeant Roger James Thompson in December of 1968 and Ronald Thompson; aunts and uncles, Willard (Darlene) White, Lola Brown, Shirley Jane (Bill) Shields, Donna Faye (Raymond) McKnight, Kenneth (Rosemarie) White, Louis White and Donovan Kennedy; cousins, Lois (Brown) Carter, Randy White and Debra Jane (Shields) Van Heeswyk, a special cousin and co-executor.
Hal leaves to cherish his memory special friend Brian (Patrick) Faris of Kurtistown, Hawaii; his two nieces, Lisa Proeger of Bishop, California, and Christina Willeford of Phoenix, Arizona; a nephew Jarrod Thompson of Missoula, Montana; two aunts, Eloise White of Creston and Marjorie Kennedy of Thornton, Colorado; two uncles, Otis Brown of Salem, Missouri, and Howard Thompson of Remer, Minnesota. Hal is also survived by his many, many cousins and their families, including his closest cousin and executor, Marie (Rich) White Flynn of Creston. He will be missed by extended family and a host of friends.