Long-time former Miami Lakes resident, Ramona Thompson, 79, passed away at home November 23, 2014, from complications of a stroke. Her husband and daughters were with her that final weekend and she died knowing that she was loved, that she would be remembered and that her family would take care of each other.
Her good works affected the lives of many throughout Florida. She was a woman of her generation, a professional volunteer, who was active for more than 60 years in numerous civic and charitable enterprises, including decades of leadership roles for Florida and General Federation of Women’s Clubs, Dade County Federation Board of Trustees, the March of Dimes and Citrus Health Network. She was never idle.
Thompson lived an extraordinary life. She was born in Wrightsville, Georgia in 1935, but she moved to Miami as a young child, growing up near the Orange Bowl. She graduated from Miami Senior High in 1953. Perhaps it was the idyllic setting or the general happiness of the times, but her star began to shine in high school and it continued throughout her life. To this day her friends and colleagues remember her beautiful smile, those gorgeous brown eyes and her sense of humor. Always so poised, so well dressed and well spoken, she was the epitome of Southern charm and hospitality, a real lady.
It was in high school, in the tenth grade, when she met and fell in love with her partner for life: Eddie Thompson (Milton E. Thompson, Jr.). She was captain of the cheerleaders and Key Club sweetheart and he was an athlete and Senior Class president. They went to the University of Florida together and eloped on Valentine’s Day weekend of their sophomore year. She was a proud member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, an allegiance she maintained throughout her life as an active member of the Miami Alumnae Chapter. All three of her daughters are Tri Delta legacies.
They went to the University of Florida together and eloped on Valentine’s Day weekend of their sophomore year. She was a proud member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, an allegiance she maintained throughout her life as an active member of the Miami Alumnae Chapter. All three of her daughters are Tri Delta legacies.
When Ramona and Eddie returned to Hialeah after college, they began their family and each began their professional, civic and volunteer activities. They moved to Miami Lakes in the early 1960s and remained in their Loch Lomond house for close to 50 years.
While she loved living in South Florida and enjoyed her weekends at their Keys home in Islamorada, Thompson would forever consider Miami Lakes ‘home.’ Still, when Eddie retired in 2010 and closed the family business, Milton E. Thompson and Sons Roofing Contractors, Inc., they decided to return to the Gainesville area to live the country life in Fort White.
While Thompson was raising her daughters, her mother-in-law invited her to join the GFWC Hialeah Junior Woman’s Club. She was president four times of the Hialeah Junior Woman’s Club and was junior director for District 11. In 1970, after transferring to the GFWC Woman’s Club of Hialeah, she served as president and District 11 director. She then began several chairmanships at the county, state and general federation levels. Her club work culminated in 1996, when she assumed the presidency of the GFWC Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs. When her tenure ended, she served as chairman, from 2000-2006, of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. In 2012, the clubhouse of the Woman’s Club of Hialeah, located on 525 West First Avenue, was renamed the Ramona M. Thompson clubhouse in her honor for a lifetime of service.
While maintaining her volunteer club work, Ramona also became a registered national parliamentarian. She was named Dade County Federation’s Woman of the Year in 1979 and in 1983 she received the Dade County Volunteer of the Year award. Throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s Ramona was also the Mother’s March coordinator for March of Dimes Dade County and she served on the Board of Directors for more than 40 years. Her tireless efforts produced thousands upon thousands of
dollars for this worthy cause. In the mid 1970s, she was also asked to join the board of directors of Citrus Health Network (originally North West Miami Dade Community Mental Health Association), a position she held proudly for more than 40 years.
Ramona Thompson is survived by her beloved husband and best friend of almost 60 years, Eddie Thompson, her three daughters, Vicki Clifford (Fort White; John Clifford, Gainesville), Denise Paparella (Gino, Hollywood) and Lisa Davis (Dan, Apalachicola) and her grandchildren Anthony and Lisa Paparella (Hollywood).
The family hosted a celebration of her life on Saturday, January 24, at the Williams-Thomas Funeral Home in Newberry, Florida.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Ramona Thompson Endowment at Hacienda Girls Ranch: 326 Croton Road, Melbourne, FL 32935.