Dru Thompson
Drucella Ann Beasley Thompson was surrounded by family as she went home peacefully to her Lord and Savior on Friday, February 7, 2025, at the age of 92. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
Dru was born in West Somerset, Kentucky, on November 25, 1932, to Fannie Dureen Dodson and Virgil Elza Beasley. At the age of 12, her parents divorced, and she moved with her mother and her sister to Birmingham, Alabama. Shortly thereafter, her mother met and married Bob Sears, who was a loving and positive father figure in Dru’s life.
During her high school years, Dru worked at the Pizitz department store in downtown Birmingham, where she earned the money to buy her own clothes. She graduated from Ensley High School in 1950, and during her senior year, won second place in Foods at the Fair and was voted “Ideal Eyes” by her classmates. Dru always wanted to be a stewardess, and after her high school graduation and a short period of time working for Birmingham Fire Insurance Company, she moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and became a stewardess for Southern Airways. She later moved to Nashville and was working as a stewardess for American Airlines when she met the love of her life, Patrick Whitacre Thompson, on a Valentine’s Day blind date. At the time, Pat was in the Air Force and stationed at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina but happened to be in Nashville for a week of training. It did not take long for Dru to know that this tall, handsome Texan was the one for her, and they married just three months later, on May 5, 1956, in Birmingham.
Dru and Pat soon moved to Austin, Texas, where Pat attended and graduated from law school at the University of Texas and where their first two children were born, Teresa Ann Thompson and Dru Ellen Thompson. Dru always desired to pursue a college education for herself, and during their time in Austin, she attended night classes at the University of Texas. The couple moved to Pat’s hometown of Breckenridge, Texas, in the Fall of 1963, and Dru continued her education by commuting to nearby Cisco and Abilene for college courses. The family began attending First Christian Church in Breckenridge, where Dru loved volunteering at the annual Chili Walk-In and where the family continued to attend church for decades. In the summer of 1967, Dru and Pat welcomed their son, John Patrick Thompson, and one year later, the family built and moved into the home where Dru would spend the rest of her life loving and caring for Pat and their children and making countless wonderful memories with generations of her family.
Dru was a woman of many talents and interests. She was an incredible seamstress and loved sewing and smocking children’s clothes for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She sewed, altered, and hemmed countless prom dresses and party gowns for her daughters and granddaughters and also made several coronation gowns and trainbearer dresses for the Breckenridge Coronation. She enjoyed quilting as well, and in her later years, crocheting became the hobby she enjoyed most. She crocheted baby blankets and clothing, and in 2022, she donated over 600 of her crocheted children’s toboggan hats to the local elementary schools. Through the years, her grandchildren learned that if anyone could mend something, whether it was a favorite shirt, dress or stuffed animal, it was her. And she loved doing it. Dru also loved to fish. She never missed a chance to drop a line in the water, and she always cleaned and cooked whatever she caught! She spent many a day fishing on Hubbard Lake, Mr. Ratliffe’s boathouse, and on many other tanks and ponds around Breckenridge. Dru loved being outdoors and a had real gift for gardening and yard work. She was always growing vegetables and beautiful flowers in her yard and learned to tend a garden at a young age. One of her favorite roles was serving as the Grounds Chairman at First Christian Church, where she tirelessly groomed and planted the church flower beds year-round.
In 1986, Pat and Dru bought a vacation home in Alto, New Mexico, that became their home away from home for the next 30 years. They would travel there several times a year, enjoying the snow in the winter and an escape from the Texas heat in the summer. They loved taking day trips all over New Mexico and collecting Native American artwork, pottery and jewelry. But their favorite memories from Alto are being there with their children and grandchildren for annual golf tournaments, fun New Year’s parties, Valentine’s toasts on the back deck, picnics on the mountain, and dinners at the Club. Dru’s greatest joy in life was always her family. There was nothing she loved more than planning and preparing a holiday meal or hosting a backyard cookout for her family. Every gathering was filled with her fun-loving spirit and the love and energy she poured into her family. What a full life she lived and what a beautiful legacy of love she leaves. Most importantly of all, Dru loved the Lord and was a follower of Jesus Christ. For this reason, her family finds comfort and rest in the knowledge that she is made perfect by her Savior and rejoices in the firm assurance that they will be with Dru again one glorious day.
Dru is preceded in death by her grandson, James Sloan Everett, Jr.; her mother and stepfather, Fannie Dodson Sears and Bob Sears; her father, Virgil Elza Beasley; and her sister, Frances Beasley Ammons.
Dru is survived by her husband of 68 years, Patrick W. Thompson; daughter, Teresa Thompson Everett, and husband, Jim, of Breckenridge, Texas; daughter, Dru Ellen Fambro, of Breckenridge, Texas; son, John Patrick Thompson, and wife, Margaret, of Dallas, Texas; her grandchildren, Sarah Everett Fowler and husband, Jason; Katharine Everett Meuli and husband, Toby; Caroline Everett Jurgensen and husband, Luke; Elizabeth Ann Everett; Rebecca Lafon Everett; Matthew Whitacre Fambro; Travis Conner Fambro; Kate Thompson Newell and husband, Paul; Maggie Anne Thompson; Patrick Whitacre Thompson, II; and Liesl Everett LaMar and husband, Luke; her great-grandchildren, Hubbard, Esther, Silas, Josiah and Iris Fowler; Scarlett, Samuel and Cody Everett; Heidi, Dru and Sloan Jurgensen; and Oliver Meuli; her sister-in-law, Jean Ann Titus; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
The family would also like to recognize and extend their deepest appreciation and gratitude for the wonderful, God-sent doctors, nurses, and caregivers who loved and cared for Dru over the past several years of her life. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to Dr. Kelli Windsor, Stephens Memorial Hospital, Sandra, Carissa, Bonnie, Toni, Patsy, Josephine, Suzanna, Joyce, Debbie, Blanca and Solaris Hospice.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, February 14, at First Christian Church, 101 E. Williams Street, Breckenridge, Texas, with Rev. Sonny McCauley and Rev. Andrew Channer officiating. A family-only burial will immediately precede the service at Breckenridge Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Christian Church of Breckenridge.
