Richard Paul Thompson

Oct 7, 1917 - May 6, 1979

Richard Paul Thompson, 61, retired Purdue University professor, died at 12:35 PM Sunday [May 6, 1979] in St. Elizabeth Hospital, where he had been a patient since last Thursday, following illness for a year. Born and reared at South Bend, he came to Lafayette in 1938. He married Edna Estell Dallas on June 25, 1957 in West Lafayette; she survives.

Prof. Thompson received his BS degree from Purdue in 1956, and his MS from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1961. In 1938, he joined the staff at Purdue and was associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering when he retired last January due to ill-health. He was a member of West Lafayette F&AM 724 and the Society of Professional Engineers.

Surviving with his wife are a son by a previous marriage, David Thompson of Las Cruces, NM; three stepdaughters, Mrs. Doris Rifenberick of Chattanooga, TN, Mrs. Joan Dotson of Texarkana, TX, and Mrs. Dian Huke of Canton, OH; three stepsons, James R. Hudson, Edward Deitrick, both of Lafayette, and Delbert Deitrick of Floyds Knobs, IN; his mother, Mrs. Finis Thompson of Lafayette; two brothers, Phillip Thompson of Three Rivers, MI, and Carl Thompson of Lafayette; 17 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

--Lafayette Journal & Courier - Mon 5/7/1979, page 6

Sources: Ancestry.com and FindAGrave.com

10/17/2025 EJS

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122461695/richard_paul-thompson