Joy Ann Thompson

Joy Thompson, 53, of Mexico, died at 6:13 p.m. on Apr. 15, 2007, at Boone Hospital Center in Columbia.

A service celebrating her life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 17, 2007, at the First Baptist Church with the Revs. Rick Smith and Jason Jordon officiating. Tributes to her life will be given by her dear friends Kristi DeForest and Paula Stephenson and her sister Cyndi Brumley.

Joy was born on May 17, 1953, in Mexico, a daughter of Cecil George and Nell (Hendrix) Horton. She was a graduate of Mexico High School and received her BS from Northeast Missouri State University in Kirksville. She taught in the North Callaway R-1 School District for 30 years until she retired in 2006. She was listed in Who s Who Among American Teachers. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Mexico. On Oct. 11, 2002, in Mexico, she married Brent Wray Thompson who survives at the home.

In addition to her husband, survivors include one son, Christopher Glenn Crawford and wife Michelle, Mexico; two stepsons, Clayton Wray Thompson, Fulton, and Cory McFadden and wife Sylvia, Woodbridge, Va.; one daughter, Julie Ann Crawford, Mexico; three brothers, James Horton, St. Louis, John Horton, Raleigh, N.C., and her twin Joe Horton, Auxvasse; two sisters, Kay Maher, Kansas City, and Cyndi Brumley, Las Vegas, Nev.; and two grandchildren, Neil McFadden and Vivian McFadden.

Memorials may be given to the American Cancer Society, in care of Pickering Funeral Home, 403 N. Western, Mexico, MO 65265.