Funeral Services for Verlon Ruel Thompson, Age 83 of Birch Tree, Missouri will be held on Saturday, October 17th, 2026 at The Pioneer Baptist Church, Birch Tree, Missouri, beginning at 10:00 AM. Visitation will be held at the church on Friday, October 16th, 2026 from 5:00-7:00 PM. Interment will take place in The Oak Forest Cemetery, Birch Tree, Missouri.
Verlon Ruel Thompson was born on September 13, 1943, the son of the late Ruel and Myrtle (Nelles) Thompson. He expired on October 12, 2026, on his farm. He was the third of six children and the oldest son, who grew up on the farm located midway between Birch Tree and Winona, Missouri, in Shannon County, on which he and his wife, Cora (Maltman), lived. His siblings include Vena Brondel (late husband, Harry) of Sugarland, TX, Sandra Rutledge (late husband, Dale) of Bluford, IL, Walter Carroll Thompson (Lois) of Kansas City, KS, and Ralph Leon Thompson (Joyce) of Birch Tree, MO. His brother, Dr. James E. Thompson, predeceased him.
Verlon attended Birch Tree Schools and lettered three years in varsity basketball (nickname was Husky) and four years in baseball for the Birch Tree Bulldogs and was president of his senior class. He continued to be active with the Birch Tree Alumni until his death.
After graduating from Birch Tree High School in 1961, he worked at a pipe company and lived with Vena, and Harry, in Kansas City for a few months before joining the United States Navy. He served three years of active sea duty aboard the destroyer USS Meredith. A few years after his honorable discharge, he rejoined a Navy Reserve Seabee Unit based in St. Louis, then Cape Girardeau, and finally Springfield, Missouri, serving as Command Chief. He retired as Chief Yeoman with 26 years of service. He also retired from Chrysler Corporation in St. Louis after 14 years.
Verlon is the father of two daughters, who live in the area along with his grandchildren: Kim Brockman of Mountain View, MO, mother of Brandi Williams (Justin) of Willard, MO, and Garrett Taber of Mountain View; and Julie Thompson of Birch Tree, MO, mother of Jerry Grandstaff (Christina) of Birch Tree, Kendra Voyles (late husband, Cody) of Mountain View, and Austin Grandstaff of Thayer, MO. His step-children and grandchildren include daughter, Jane Yarnell (Philip) of Marshfield, MO, mother of Sgt First Class Justin Yarnell (Amy) of Fort Bragg, NC, and twins, MSgt Ashley Gittens (Quinton) of Lackland AFB, TX, and 2nd Lieutenant Megan Harter (Chaz) of Barksdale AFB, LA; and son, CWO3 Joshua Thacker (Whitney), USN (Ret) of Birch Tree, father of Shelby Thacker of Birch Tree, and Jaden Thacker of Rogersville, MO. Great-grandchildren include Kenadie Limb and Natalie Delleville of Willard, MO; Addisyn, baby, and Easton Grandstaff of Birch Tree; Conley and Griffin Voyles of Mountain View; Gentry Grandstaff of Eminence, MO; Conner Taber of Springfield, MO; Wyatt and Wrenley Harter of Barksdale AFB, LA; Khloe Farr of Birch Tree; and Zayne Gittens of Lackland AFB, TX; as well as many nieces and nephews.
Verlon was associated with American Legion Post #509 in Birch Tree for over 36 years, where he served as adjutant and, at one time, commander. He was Democratic Committeeman for Bartlett District and has also served in other official positions with Shannon County and South-Central Missouri Democratic Committees since his retirement from Chrysler and permanent return to Shannon County.
He was one of the organizers of and has served in several positions with the Birch Tree Park Board and Birch Tree Development Board. For two years, he coached Little League 13–15-year-olds at Reaser Field, with half of his team going on to letter in varsity baseball at Liberty High School. He also worked often in the concession stand and umpired at Reaser Field. He enjoyed watching girls’ softball, volleyball, and basketball, and boys’ baseball, basketball, and football, whether at the grade level, junior high, or high school level.
He was one of the Birch Tree Chamber of Commerce organizers, where he has served in various capacities, as well as board member, vice-president, and secretary of the Birch Tree Development Corporation. He was actively involved with the Shannon County Food Distribution Center in Winona and often spent his Thanksgiving Day serving meals to others.
Verlon was also one of the Neighborhood Watch Program organizers, in which he continued to be an active member and served the program in various offices until his death. He was a board member for MFA-Birch Tree for years, as well as a board member for the Shannon County Senior Citizens Service Fund, and treasurer for Birch Tree Ministerial Alliance.
Verlon kept busy at home with farming, haymaking, sawmilling, and gardening. He had his own remodeling company and had built a substantial tax preparation business for three months each year, using his Business Degree in Accounting from Southwest Baptist University, which he completed in 1993, at the age of 49.
Ranking above his relationship with his family and his service to his community and country was his devotion to his relationship with God, his Christian walk, and service to his church family and others in need. He lived a dream. He got to experience living and spending much of a lifetime in a setting only God could have created, “the outdoors.”
If there was any activity taking place at Pioneer Baptist Church, you would find Verlon there, too. He was one of the church’s founders in 1984, designed and constructed the present Pioneer Baptist Church building on Old Highway 60, and contributed many working hours on the church’s new addition. He served as church treasurer from the church’s beginning, and had been Sunday School Superintendent as well as directed or served on multiple church committees. Verlon taught the high school Sunday School class and, at times, the junior high-aged youth.
His passion was building to improve the lives of others and caring for the land and forest he enjoyed so much. A couple of his mottos were “leave it in better shape/condition than you started,” and “be sure and leave an imprint on the path you take.”
Verlon and his wife, Cora, began their mission trips in 1996 by working on a friend’s church in Jacksonville, Arkansas. The next year they joined Habitat for Humanity in Huntsville, Alabama, doing a 5-house blitz build, and fell in love with the Habitat work.
Since then, Verlon was a key worker and often the house leader of a 20-house Habitat “Building of Faith” Blitz Build in Selma, Alabama, and seven builds with college students and/or Habitat’s RV Care-A-Vanner program in the Mississippi Delta town of Leland. He also did two house framings in Mountain View, Missouri, where he served on the Habitat board, and one Habitat house build in Fort Scott, Arkansas. There were also two Habitat for Humanity “Jimmy Carter Work Project” builds with former US President himself in Houston, Texas (150 houses) and Veracruz, Mexico, where 75 of the 150 houses were built that week, and a build in Foley, Alabama (the Gulf Shores area), and post Katrina rehab in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Verlon was also active with Builders for Christ. Building projects he participated in include new church facilities in Imperial, MO, Maysville, MO, Anadarko, OK, Weatherford, TX, and Walnut Hill, AL; an administrative center in Park Hills, MO; completing a fellowship hall on Dauphin Island, AL; “studding” out a new 5000 sq. ft. church in Rock Island, TN; an expansion auditorium in Keithville, LA; and a new church in Mount Vernon, MO. He made seven construction and medical trips with local groups to Les Cayes, Haiti, and joined Corea in Lima, Peru, on two extended trips where they volunteered at two orphanages and with Mission to the World for orphanage work and building in Acapulco, Mexico. He worked with Brother Brandon Tate and a fine group from Convoy of Hope to start renovations on the old shoe factory.
Now, if you were not worn out just listening to details of Verlon’s daily life, he would have eagerly suggested someone or someplace needing a bit of your help and offered to go with you. Verlon felt like he wasn’t doing some great, spectacular thing by serving others, but giving back to his community and the world in his own way.
Verlon leaves each of us this message:
“Life is still a constant surprise to me. We never know what will happen next, what we will see, and what important person will come into our life, or what important person we will be. Life is change, constant change, and always a drama, if not a tragedy. But after everything, and even when the skies turn scarlet and threatening, I still believe that if we are blessed enough to be alive, we must give thanks to God for the miracles of every moment of every day, no matter how flawed. We must have faith in God and in a better tomorrow.”
“Life is amazing. Then it is awful. Then it is amazing again. And in between amazing and awful, it’s ordinary, and mundane and routine. Breathe in the amazing, hold on during the awful, and relax and exhale through the ordinary. That’s just living a heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. And it is breathtakingly beautiful! Give Praise, Honor, and Glory to God every day for each day He allows you to have. Fill your life with adventures, not things…have stories to tell…not stuff to show!”
“You can shed tears because I am gone, or you can smile because I lived. You can close your eyes and pray I will come back, or you can smile because I lived. You can close your eyes and pray I will come back, or you can open your eyes and see all I left for you. Your heart can be empty because you can’t see me, or you can be full of the love you share with me. You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. You can remember only that I am gone, or you can cherish my memory and let it live on. You can cry and close your mind and feel empty, or you can do what I would want: Smile, Open your heart, Love…and go on.”
“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.”
The cancer that took Verlon did not define who he was. He will be remembered as a man of integrity, humor, and strength. He was a very kind, caring, intelligent person who was always willing to go the “extra mile” for anyone. He never met a challenge he didn’t put 100 percent of his energy into overcoming. He loved God, his family, and his country. Many people did not realize Verlon had cancer, and that is exactly how he wanted it. He had many adventures in his life and lived it to the fullest, even after his diagnosis. Those who knew him will strive to hold his love of life, sense of adventure, humor, kindness, and service close to their hearts in the times to come.
His life story is filled with unmentioned broken pieces, terrible choices, and ugly truths. It is also God-filled with major comebacks, peace in his soul, and grace that saved his eternal life. He gives God the glory for His Son Jesus, who anchors his soul in the troubling seas of life. He is my Savior, my eternal preserver, my rescuer. He is my joy, my peace, and my ever-present comfort in time of trial. I waited impatiently for His coming again to take me home.
May God bless each and every one of y’all!!
