Obituary: Pauline Jennie Thompson
March 30, 1941 – October 17, 2025
November 3, 2025
Pauline Jennie Thompson. 1941-2025
Heaven gained a gentle soul when Pauline Jennie Thompson was called home to God on Friday, October 17, 2025. Though our hearts ache with loss, we find comfort knowing she is now resting in the peace she so faithfully prayed for all her life.
Born in Gill, Massachusetts, on March 30, 1941, to the late Wilder Clarence and Katherine Edith (Gusan) Stockwell, Pauline was the oldest of four siblings with Walter Stockwell, Herbert Stockwell, and Patricia Myott. From a young age, she cared deeply for her brothers and sister. She attended school until the 10th grade, leaving to begin working. During the summers, she would work in the tobacco fields of Massachusetts, then on weekends and nights at the Spaghetti House, cooking and serving meals in the dining room. With her hard-earned wages, she helped buy food and school clothes for her younger siblings. Pauline obtained her GED later in life.
Pauline lived a life of quiet devotion to God, her family, and all who knew her, giving love selflessly and finding joy in life’s simplest blessings—family gatherings, her rosary, her garden, and the traditions of her Polish Catholic heritage. Her faith guided every step, shaping a life of service, forgiveness, and love. At her Confirmation, she took the name Theresa in honor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower, embodying the saint’s belief that small acts of kindness, done with great love, can change the world.
On June 6, 1959, Pauline married Walter Charles Thompson Sr. at Holy Trinity Church in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Together, they raised five children and built a life grounded in love, hard work, and faith.
Pauline and her husband bought a dairy farm in Colchester, Vermont, where she worked tirelessly milking cows and doing farm work. Moving back to Connecticut, she spent several years working in factories before returning and settling in Duxbury, Vermont, in 1979. Eventually, Pauline took to the once familiar restaurant service when she and her beloved sister Patricia co-owned the famous Feedbag Restaurant in Moretown, Vermont—home of the famous Broaster-fried chicken and hand-cut fries. The Feedbag became a gathering place for family and friends, filled with laughter, stories, and the warmth of home until she retired in 1998.
Her hands were rarely still—always crafting, cooking, mending, praying, playing with her great-grandchildren outside, or her favorite weekly outing to play bingo. The scent of homemade gołąbki and pierogi filled her kitchen, but it was her laughter and her prayers that filled her home. Every joy and every sorrow she met with grace, whispering, “Jezu, ufam Tobie”— “Jesus, I trust in you.”
Pauline is survived by her sister, Patricia Myott, many cousins in Massachusetts, many nieces and nephews, and her children: Walter C. Thompson “JR”, Mary A. Thompson Veren and husband William, Betty J. Thompson Gibbs and partner Rick, Linda J. Thompson Cochran, and J. Randy Thompson and wife Tina. She leaves behind 17 grandchildren; several others she claimed as family from Sunday-Funday gatherings, several great-grandchildren; all of whom will carry her memory as a blessing and a guide.
She is reunited in Heaven with her beloved husband Walter, brothers Walter and Herbie, brother-in-law Wayland Myott, and son-in-law Barry Gibbs—embraced by the saints and angels she so often called upon in prayer.
She will be remembered for her boundless love, her unwavering faith, and the way she made everyone feel like family. Her kindness was her legacy, her scenes of humor, playful pranks, faith, but also her stern pressed lip coupled with the glare of disapproval, were her greatest gifts. Though she has gone ahead, her light will continue to shine in the hearts of all who loved her.
A graveside service will be held on Friday, Nov. 7, at 11 a.m. at Maple Street Cemetery in Waterbury Center. A reception will follow at the Harry N. Cutting American Legion Post # 59, 16 Stowe St., Waterbury. For those who wish, memorial contributions in Pauline's memory can be made to Meals on Wheels c/o Waterbury Area Senior Center, 14 Stowe Street, Waterbury, VT 05676 or online at wasca.org.