Jack LeRoy Thomson, Paris, Texas resident and beloved “Pops” to his family, died Tuesday December 16th, 2025, from complications resulting from a long-term battle with cancer. He was 82. Jack was born February 21, 1943 in Chicago, Ill., to Arthur Leroy Thomson and Ruth Sigfried Thomson.
Jack, the eldest of three Thomson children, grew up in Park Ridge, IL, and graduated from Maine Township East in 1961. He graduated from Michigan State University in 1965, where he studied hotel and club management and participated in Army ROTC. Upon graduation, Thomson commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. At his first posting in Anniston, Ala., Thomson met Victoria “Viki” Piedot on a blind date. The couple married on Aug. 5, 1967 – a month after Jack returned from a deployment in Vietnam. The young lieutenant earned a Bronze Star for Meritorious Service During Operation Junction City. He served in Vietnam from July 1966 to July 1967. A training accident ended Jack’s military career in February 1968.
Jack then pursued a career in country club management and he and Viki raised two children while living in Michigan, Alabama, Illinois, and Massachusetts. The couple retired to Paris, Texas in 2008 to be nearer to their two grandsons. Viki, an educator and mother, passed away shortly after their 50th wedding anniversary in December 2017. In retirement, Jack was heavily involved in the VFW and worked to establish the Red River Valley Veterans Memorial. He was an enthusiastic regular at the Church of the Holy Cross 8 a.m. Sunday services and later coffee hour.
Jack enjoyed collecting firearms and fondly recounted how as a teen delivered newspapers to save money for his first gun, a .22 rifle. He could often be found at the gun range and passed this love along to his children and grandsons. Pops possessed a keen sense of humor and quick wit and left an impression on all who met him. He was stubborn, loved life, and he beat back cancer twice against long odds.
Jack is survived by brothers and sisters-in-law Scott and Jan Thomson, and Randy and Cheryl Thomson; a daughter and son-in-law, Mandy and Chris Gent; his son, Scott Thomson; and grandchildren, Conner and Grace Gent, and Colin Gent.
In lieu of flowers, Jack requested that a donation be made in his name to one of his preferred charitable organizations: Red River Valley Veteran’s Memorial, Disabled American Veterans, or the American Cancer Society.
Jack wanted to finish with one of his favorite jokes (his “dad” jokes were legendary, or infamous, depending on your point of view!): A man pulled over in front of an insane asylum with a flat tire. He placed his lug nuts on his wheel cover and when he went to go get the spare tire, kicked the lug nuts out into the weeds. As the man was yelling and unable to find them in the dark, a patient from the asylum looked out and told him, “Hey! Just take 1 lug nut off each wheel and use those for your spare. You can drive to a shop and they can replace place the missing ones.” The man was stunned and said, “That’s brilliant! Why are you in there?” The asylum patient replied, “I’m crazy, not stupid!”
A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, December 27, 2025 at 11:00 AM at Holy Cross Episcopal Church with Father Johnathan Beck as Celebrant. No formal visitation has been scheduled.
Online condolences may be sent to the Thomson family by visiting www.fry-gibbs.com
