Harlen Junior Thompson

In Memory of Harlen Junior Thompson

Surrounded by the love of his family, Harlen Junior Thompson passed away on September 23rd, 2026, in Salem, Oregon, at the age of 93. He leaves behind a lifetime of memories, generations of family who loved him deeply, and a legacy that will continue long after his passing.

 Harlen was born July 22, 1933, in Jamestown, Tennessee, to John (Frank) Thompson and Effie Thompson. Hard work was part of his life from an early age, with his younger years spent farming and sharecropping. At just 18 years old, Harlen left Tennessee and made his way west to Oregon, where he first worked at gas stations in Wolf Creek and Grants Pass before settling in Springfield, where he worked at the Georgia-Pacific plywood mill, that he later retired from.

 Harlen and Betty married on July 23, 1955, in Grants Pass, Oregon, beginning a love story spanning over 66 years. They didn't just grow older together; they built a life together. They raised their family, shared their faith, traveled, laughed, worked, and walked beside one another through all the seasons a lifetime can hold. Their faith, their marriage, their home, and their family became intertwined pieces of the life they created together.

 Harlen was a builder in many ways. He loved woodworking, could create just about anything, and even built his family's Springfield home. What made that house a home wasn't just what he built, it was the decades of family, laughter, love, and memories that filled it. 

Harlen and Betty loved traveling in their RV, making yearly trips to California and frequent trips to Reno. They loved morning walks around the mall, attending and selling at the Pick-a-Dilly, and simply being by each other’s side. After so many years together, theirs was the kind of love that didn't need to be explained. You could simply see it. 

When Betty passed away in June 2021, Harlen lost the woman who had been beside him for nearly his entire life. Her absence left a space that could never truly be filled. He missed her deeply, and those who loved him knew how profoundly her loss affected him. Yet even with a broken heart, Harlen kept going. He fought hard for the years that followed, giving his family more conversations, more visits, more memories, and something they will forever treasure…more time.

 Being Grandpa was one of Harlen's greatest joys. He wasn't a grandfather who simply watched his grandchildren grow up. He joined them. Grandpa will be remembered in summer days spent fishing, camping trips to the beach, cartoons watched side by side, playing games on the Nintendo, and the funny stories he loved to tell from years gone by. These were ordinary moments at the time, but they became the memories his grandchildren and children would carry with them for the rest of their lives.

 Harlen was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Betty Rose Thompson; his parents, Frank Thompson and Effie Thompson; and his siblings Amon Thompson, William “Bill” Thompson, Isaac Thompson, and Elzic Thompson. 

He is survived by his sister, Celia Mae Gall (Mae); his son, Douglas Thompson; and his daughter, Patty Smith and her husband, Eric. 

Harlen also leaves behind five grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren: Alyssa and her husband, Jesse, and their children Logan, Haylie, and Beckham; Josiah and his wife, Judy, and their children Caroline, Samuel, and Rebecca; Ryan and his wife, Alaina; Sarah and her husband, Tyler, and their children Jaxon and Jamison; and Kyle and his wife, Lauren, and their children Emma and Wyatt.

 Ninety-three years is a long life, but when someone has been part of your world for so long, there never seems to be enough time. The man his family loved may no longer be sitting beside them, but the life Harlen and Betty built together is all around them, in the family they raised, the generations that followed, and the love they leave behind. 

After years of missing the woman with whom he shared nearly an entire lifetime, his family finds comfort in believing that the love story that began on July 23, 1955, has finally brought Harlen home to Betty again.