Darlene Thompson

Darlene Marie Thompson was born in Belle Fourche in 1948 to Helen and Herald Richardson. She was the oldest of 3 sisters, Diane and Jody. Her youngest sister Jody was 8 years younger than Darlene. Her other sister, Diane, was closer to Darlene’s age and they did not like each other when they were younger. She recalled an incident with Diane where scissors were involved and Darlene was pretty sure it was not her fault! Set your mind to ease that the sisters get along very nicely now.

Growing up Darlene’s family had very little money, however, she never felt deprived, because their family found their own fun and ways to be happy. Her mom would take her to school dances and wait in the car for three hours until the dance was over to drive her home. Darlene’s dad was a war hero who was injured in WW11. Then after a long recovery, he gave two more years of service. Darlene feels she gained her strength and the ability to rise above life’s challenges to her parents.

 One of her fondest memories was riding horses to Orman Dam and using the horse as a diving board to dive off their backs. She was a tom boy growing up, always loving the outdoors and never liking dolls! In elementary school sports were not offered to girls, but one fun activity she loved at school was playing “Donkey Basketball.” They played in the gym with two teams, dribbling and shooting baskets from the donkey’s backs. Yes … they needed a pooper scooper after the game!!

Darlene’s grandma lived with her family for four years due to heart problems. She stayed in Darlene’s room, while Darlene slept on a roll away bed close by. When her grandma needed her in the middle of the night she would wake up to give her grandma medicine. She loved her grandma. 

 Darlene always loved school, especially math. She learned her multiplication facts in one weekend. She also loved to read. During one long winter she read the whole set of encyclopedias from A through Z. Darlene and her sister scurried upstairs as soon as school was out for the summer to “play school.” 

She was confident that she wanted to become a teacher after high school. Her dad borrowed money for her tuition from a friend and she worked very hard to pay the money back. She received a math degree from BHSU. She was married to Wes Thompson in 1969 and began teaching in Belle Fourche, then later moved to Spearfish where she taught for 23 years…about 35 years altogether! 

She took 5 years off from teaching when she had her son, Aaron. Then 5 years later when she had her daughter, Ann, she took 5 more years off to raise her children. Aaron is now 40 years old and running the 5th generation Thompson ranch. Him and his wife, Susie, have one son named Guy who is in 3rd grade. Ann is 34 years old and lives in New York. She feels her biggest blessing in life are her children, especially since her doctor told her she would never be able to have kids. 

Darlene is not only a teacher, but she is a lifelong learner. After her retirement from teaching 6th grade, she waltzed into Canyon Hills and asked to talk with the principal. She told him she would like to work five hours a day and four days a week and he asked her “If she could start tomorrow?” Now Darlene is back in school at BHSU to renew her teaching certificate at 71 years old…now that’s dedication! 

When asked what her biggest accomplishment was, she said raising two great people and teaching 2,000 middle schoolers. Her advice is to be happy because it is a choice. Always find the good in people and be kind. Even though our lives may have challenges, just pick up and go on. You are one in a million Darlene and you have touched so many lives in a positive way…thank you!