Virginia M. Thompson

Her children say their mother raised them alone and taught them discipline, independence and self-sufficiency, instilling a work ethic in them early. Virginia Thompson, 56, of El Reno, had been employed by the Federal Employees Credit Union since January. Before that, she had worked 25 years at the Rock Island Credit Union in El Reno. She was the mother of two sons and a daughter – Ken, Phil and Shelly. She always got to work at 8 a.m. each day and as receptionist took incoming calls for the credit union. “Logic would tell you she would be answering the phone at her desk at 9:02,” Phil said. Ken recalled his mother as “the most giving person I’ve ever met in my life,” and Phil said his mother was a “phenomenal woman, one who could literally almost do anything.” During the previous year, Ken said he had seen in his mother “a kind of peace,” that she had done her best with her children and they were doing okay.