This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Robert “Bob” Thompson, 86, of Clinton passed away on Feb. 19, surrounded by his loving family. Born Sept. 19, 1934, in Athol, Massachusetts, he was the youngest of eight children of Henry A. Thompson and Anna (Reed) Thompson.

Bob proudly served his country in the U.S. Air Force for eight years during the Korean War, where he achieved the rank of staff sergeant. After being honorably discharged in 1962, he built his young family a home in Athol from start to finish. He moved to Clinton with his family in 1969. His daughter Jodi predeceased him in 1973 and his wife Joyce (LaFord) Thompson passed away in 1981.

Bob worked until age 83 and retired as maintenance supervisor at Guilford Housing Authority in 2017. He was highly thought of there by senior residents who called on him regularly for repairs in their apartments. Before that, he worked for many years as a manufacturing supervisor in the furniture industry including at Sudbury House and Brewster. While living in Massachusetts, he also crafted furniture for Ethan Allen.

Through the years, he often helped friends and family with home repairs and remodeling projects. Bob was an avid woodworker and made many pieces of furniture in his basement workshop for his children and grandchildren. These included cabinets, tables, bookshelves, chairs, rocking horses, and wagons. He was the proud father of six children in a blended family and cherished the time he spent with them and his six grandchildren and great-granddaughter.

He loved to travel and with his wife MaryJane, he visited many countries and all 50 states. He especially enjoyed the U.S. National Parks. He was a longtime fan of the Boston Red Sox and the UConn women’s basketball team and attended many of their games. He was a communicant at St. Mary’s Church of the Visitation in Clinton, where he was also a Eucharistic minister. Bob was a member of the Knights of Columbus in Athol, Massachusetts.

He is also predeceased by his sisters Madeline Gray, Marion Lukaszevicz, and Dorothy Fletcher and brothers Cliff, Allan and Edgar Thompson. Bob is survived by his wife, MaryJane Hogan Doyle Thompson of Clinton; his sister Shirley Horton of Chelmsford, Massachusetts; his daughters Lynn (Michael) Marcinkowski of Chicago, Illinois, Dianne (Larry) Robbins of East Lyme, and Eileen (Peter) Lawton of South Berwick, Maine; and sons Scott (Chrissy) Thompson of Portsmouth, Rhode Island; Joseph (Terri) Doyle of Berkeley, California, and Michael Doyle of Chicago, Illinois. He will be greatly missed by his grandchildren, John and Matthew Pendleton, Patrick and Thomas Doyle, Courtney Babcock, and Andrew Thompson, and great-granddaughter Nora Pendleton.

Calling hours will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, at Swan Funeral Home, 80 East Main Street, Clinton. A funeral Mass will follow at 11 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church of the Visitation, 54 Grove Street, Clinton. Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Families Helping Families in Clinton (fhfclinton.org) and the Henry Carter Hull Library in Clinton (hchlibrary.org).