The obituary, shown below, was originally published in the July 18, 2013
issue of
The Daily Local News (West Chester, PA).
Mabel Latta Thompson, formerly of Kennett Square
Mrs. Mabel Latta Thompson, educator, oral historian and local civic leader, passed away on July 16, 2013 in Newton, Mass. She was 82 years old. Mrs. Thompson was best known in the Kennett area as the founder of the Kennett Square Martin L. King, Jr., Community Breakfast, an annual event begun in 2001. Since its founding, the breakfast has brought together thousands of Chester County residents to work collaboratively for “peace” and “harmony,” in word and deed. Under her leadership, the Breakfast was followed each year by a day of service in the local community; it inspired substantial sponsorships and donations to support local organizations, and over the last decade funded and awarded over fifty scholarships to Kennett High School students. As a member of the founding committee for the Kennett Area YMCA, Mabel Thompson worked tirelessly to help build the Race Street facility that opened with state of the art fitness, childcare and teen program facilities in April, 1998. For many years she was active in the Y’s Good Kids Dinner, helping to raise funds to make programming accessible to the entire community. Mrs. Thompson also served on the Board of Directors of the Chester County Hospital, the Kennett Area Senior Center and La Comunidad Hispana, providing integrated health care, social and adult educational services for over 5,000 immigrant and low income Chester County residents each year. Mrs. Thompson was a longstanding member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW. A 2010 citation for her work by the Senate of the State of Pennsylvania noted, “Any definition of a full and productive life must include service to others. Through her many initiatives to benefit her community and by her personal example, Mrs. Thompson clearly reflects the true spirit and mission of this Commonwealth.” In 2001, Mrs. Thompson was also honored for her civic work by the local community at the annual dinner hosted by the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce celebrating the “Outstanding Citizen of the Year.” Mrs. Thompson was long active in New Garden U.A.M.E. Church in Kennett Square, the same church she attended as a child. Mabel attended Kennett public schools through her high school graduation in 1948, going on to graduate from West Virginia State College in 1952. She taught English in public schools in Dover, Delaware and in Philadelphia. In 1954, Mabel married Rev. James P. Thompson, Jr., who became pastor of Star of Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia. Their son, James Phillip Thompson, III, was born in 1956. Rev. Thompson died in 1963 and Mrs. Thompson returned to Kennett Square in 1965, remaining there until 2002, when a flood destroyed her home on East State Street. Mrs. Thompson moved to Brookline, Mass., where she lived with her son and daughter-in-law, Dayna Cunningham. In Brookline, “Grams” or “Mom Thom” was a beloved and integral daily presence in the lives of her two grandchildren, James P. Thompson IV, and Calvin E.C. Thompson, and among Boston-area friends and neighbors. Even from Massachusetts, Mrs. Thompson continued to lead the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Community Breakfast Committee until 2011. Her funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, July 22, at the Episcopal Church of the Advent, 401 N. Union St., Kennett Square, PA 19348, followed by burial at Union Hill Cemetery. A Reception will follow at 2 p.m. at the Kennett Area Senior Center, 427 S. Walnut St., Kennett Square.