Marion Leon Thompson

Marion Leon Thompson passed away July 21, 2025.  Leon was born January 5, 1927 in an earthen dugout two miles east of Bula, TX to parents, Francis Marion and Gladys Thompson.  He had two sisters, Berta Sue Lassiter and Hazel Powell.  Leon and his sisters grew up on a cotton farm in Saginaw, TX during the hard times of the Great Depression and learned the value of hard work and thrifty spending.

Leon joined the Army at the age of 18 and served in Heidelberg, Germany at the end of WWII.  In 1947, Leon borrowed $25 and married a very beautiful lady, Elva Forbes.  Together they had three children, Danny Thompson of Denver, CO, Pat Madson Eimers of Las Vegas, NV and James (Bud) Thompson of Keller, TX.

Leon “had the good fortune” to get hired by Magnolia Petroleum Company, later Mobil Oil Corporation, then Exxon Mobil in 1950.  He never missed a day of work until his retirement in 1984.  He “couldn’t believe the daylight he had left” from his early days on the job so, he got a second job driving a delivery truck just to feel like he’d worked all day.   Leon always said the highlight of his career was the five years he spent living in Stavanger, Norway while working on the Statfjord offshore platform projects in the North Sea.

Leon was an avid deer hunter.  Almost every fall he would rendezvous with his WWII buddies and their sons and friends at their deer camp in the Colorado Rockies camping out in the open regardless of the weather.  Leon spent most of the year looking forward to the Fall deer hunting season.  His killed his last elk in the New Mexico Rockies at the young age of 86.

Leon will be dearly missed by his sister, Hazle Powell of Moore, Ok, Danny & Rene Thompson, Pat & Dennis Eimers, James (Bud) & Kim Thompson, 8 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren.

Leon was one of a kind, a Godly man, excellent husband and the best dad and grandad anyone could ever have.

A special thank you to the staff at Cowden Cottage, he loved all you gals!!!

Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory in Midland.  Online condolences may be made at www.npwelch.com

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