Bernice Thompson

With a warm, welcoming smile and a loving heart, Bernice Thompson quietly embraced each day as a gift to be treasured. Never one to demand the spotlight, Bernice found joy in life’s simple pleasures. In Bernice’s humble and kind company, others felt at ease and free to be themselves. A devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, Bernice will long be remembered by those she so dearly loved.

1928 continued to ride the decade’s roaring wave of peace, prosperity, and hope. The nation celebrated the recent inventions of Penicillin, the iron lung, bubble gum, and the Yo-Yo, as well as Charles Lindbergh’s Congressional Medal of Honor and Amelia Earhart becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. As the wave of sweeping social and economic growth rapidly increased, nowhere was there more hope for the future than in the hearts and home of Paul and Helena (Vaness) Platschorre as they welcomed their daughter Bernice to their family on January 9 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The eighth of the nine Platschorre children and the youngest daughter, Bernice, attended Christian schools for elementary years and then graduated from South High School. As a teen, she nannied for a local family before clerking in an office after graduating high school.

While rollerskating, Bernice met her future husband, William “Bill” Thompson. As Bill didn’t want to marry until he could provide well for Bernice, the couple dated for a time. They happily married on March 9, 1950, and made their home in a shell house in Wyoming that they finished. There, they welcomed three children, Bill, Bonnie, and Marilyn.

In time, the family moved to Rockford, where they lived on Brewer for many years. Bernice devoted herself to creating a loving and supportive home for her family and was a meticulous house cleaner. When the kids were young, the family enjoyed many vacations, traveling with their trailer throughout the United States and Canada. In later years, Bernice and Bill enjoyed many trips to Jamaica and Hawaii and traveling to see their siblings around the country.

Content to live a simple, quiet life, Bernice enjoyed reading and generally kept to herself. Her great joy was her family, and she delighted in spending time with them. Sadly, Bill passed away in 2013. During her last eight years, she lived with one of her daughters and received care from her dear children.

As we celebrate Bernice’s life, may we find much comfort in our many treasured memories. May we also find comfort in carrying her legacy of quiet grace forward. In each moment we find contentment in life’s simple joys, including being kind, relishing quiet, reading a good book, traveling, and enjoying a loved one’s good company, we keep Bernice’s beautiful spirit alive and inspiring others as she so inspired us.

Bernice Thompson, age 96, passed away on September 3, 2024. She was preceded in death by her husband, William, in 2013; and by her siblings John Platschorre, Daniel Platschorre, Leonard “Simon” Platschorre, Helen Verwys, Klazina “Bobbie” Potts, Ann Theule, Marie VandenToorn, and Alice Hayden.

Bernice is survived by her children, William Paul Thompson, Bonnie (Bruce) Spaanstra, Marilyn (Jerry) Lomashewich; and granddaughters, Amanda (Dan Waegel) Spaanstra and Caitlin Spaanstra.

Her funeral service will be held on Thursday, September 5, at 2 PM at Heritage Life Story Funeral Home – Van Strien Creston Chapel, where friends are invited to visit with her family beginning at 1 PM. In lieu of flowers, contributions are suggested to the Puritan Theological Seminary. To share a memory or photo or to sign her guestbook, please visit www.heritagelifestory.com