THOMPSON, Twila June

Arizona Silver Belt, Globe, Arizona Wednesday, January 04, 2012 Twila June Thompson, 73, passed away on Dec. 24, 2011 at St. Joseph Hospital in Tucson of cardiac arrest. Born Twila June Beck on Oct. 30, 1938, in Dolores, Colo., to Alma Leona Rust Beck and June Samuel Beck. Twila attended Miami High School in Miami, Ariz. In 1956, She married Lyle Thompson of Globe, Ariz., with whom she had three children. The Thompsons traveled overseas to Okinawa during the Vietnam War while Lyle served in the Air Force as a Master Sergeant. The couple later divorced in the 1974, and Mrs. Thompson then settled in Sierra Vista, Ariz., where she continued her 37-year career as an investigator in the Civil Service, eventually retiring from Fort Huachuca as Assistant Inspector General in 2005. Twila’s service to the U.S. government was recognized through numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal presented to her by Jimmy Carter. Twila dedicated her life to helping others through her service in Freedom Fellowship Church and the Gospel Rescue Mission in Tucson, where she lived for 18 years. She is survived by two sons, Curtis Wayne Thompson, 55, of Heidelberg, Germany and Thomas Duane Thompson, 52, of Brockton, Mass., and a daughter, Karen Janeane Thompson, 48, of Los Angeles, Calif. Twila was the third of five siblings; two brothers, Duane and Gerald, and two sisters, Iris and Ardith of Globe, Ariz. A memorial service will be held on Friday, Jan. 6, 2012 at 7 p.m. at Freedom Fellowship Church, 1520 Melpomene Way, in Tucson, AZ. A graveside service will be held at the Mountain Breeze Memorial Garden in Miami, Ariz., on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, you may make a donation to Gospel Rescue Mission, in honor of Twila Thompson, 707 West Miracle Mile, Tucson, AZ 85705, 520-740-1501.