Helen Harrod Thompson

Born|

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Alma mater| University of Oklahoma, East Central State University
Known for| co-creator of Family Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence, creator of Senior University

Helen Harrod Thompson is the co-creator of the Family Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence in Ardmore, Oklahoma. In 2006, Thompson was selected to create Senior University, a program that gained national recognition by the Association for Continuing Higher Education as an Adult Model Program. Thompson was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 2011 for her career focused on the welfare of children, domestic violence and abuse prevention.

## Early life[edit]

Helen Harrod Thompson was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where she lived for all of her childhood. Thompson attended Northeast High School and after she graduated, moved away to Staunton, Virginia to attend Mary Baldwin College. She attended the college for a year, then moved back to Oklahoma, where she completed her undergraduate education at the University of Oklahoma. Thompson majored in home economics and became a home demonstration agent.[1]

## Career[edit]

After graduation, Thompson became a Home Service Consultant for OG+E. She would travel to homes and schools, where she would ademonstrate how to use and cook on the all new electric range. Thompson was married for several years, quitting the work force and having children,[a] before eventually getting a divorce and returning to school to earn her master's degree in counseling and administration. She became an elementary counselor and was with that school district for 22 years. A little later Thompson went into administration and community education within that district where she incorporated an Even Start program. Thompson was also involved with the C/SARA (Crisis Support and Resources Association) foundation, a non-profit that helps with training adults at schools on how to deal with the students' crises. Around 2000, they developed the Child Advocacy Center in Ardmore, also called "Sara's House."

## Post retirement[edit]

When Thompson reached the age of retirement in 2006, The Ardmore Higher Education center, asked her to join its team in creating what became known as the "Senior University," a program that gained national recognition by the Association for Continuing Higher Education as an Adult Model Program.[3]

Thompson has also served as a trustee and officer of the Children's Shelter, YWCA, and the Greater Southwest Historical Museum. In 2011, she was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame.[4] As of 2011, she was actively involved in legislative and legal matters of concern to citizens of Oklahoma.[3]

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Helen's husband was John Jack Miller Thompson, Jr. (1930-2009), an Ardmore homebuilder and realtor. He and Helen had two sons who survived their father.[2]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Nykolaiszyn, Juliana (August 16, 2011). "Oral history interview with Helen Thompson". Inductees of the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame Oral History Project. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
2. ^ "Jack Thompson." Craddock Funeral Home. September 4, 2009. Accessed April 8, 2018.
3. ^ a b "Helen Harrod Thompson," Oklahoma Commission of the Status of Women.2011. Accessed April 9, 2018.
4. ^ "Eight To Be Inducted into Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame on April 7". Oklahoma Women Blogspot. Retrieved 23 July 2015.

## External links[edit]

* Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame Oral History Project -- OSU Library

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Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame

1980s

| 1982|

* Hannah Diggs Atkins
* Kate Barnard
* June Brooks
* Gloria Stewart Farley
* Aloysius Larch-Miller
* Susan Ryan Peters
* Christine Salmon
* Edyth Thomas Wallace

|

1983|

* Zelia N. Breaux
* Kate Frank
* Leona Mitchell
* Jean Pitts
* Juanita Stout
* Alma Wilson

1984|

* Angie Debo
* Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick
* Jewell Russell Mann
* Zella J. Patterson

1985|

* Mae Boren Axton
* June Tompkins Benson
* Pam Olson
* Betty Durham Price
* Bertha Frank Teague

1986|

* Sara Ruth Cohen
* Vinita Cravens
* Rubye Hibler Hall
* Elizabeth Ann McCurdy Holmes
* Grace Elizabeth Hudlin
* Wilma P. Mankiller
* Edna Mae Phelps
* Evelyn La Rue Pittman

1990s

| 1993|

* Marie Cox
* Anita Faye Hill
* Moscelyne Larkin Jasinski
* Jacqulyn C. Longacre
* Shannon Lucid
* Clara Luper
* Opaline Deveraux Wadkins
* Pat Woodrum

|

1995|

* Nancy Goodman Feldman
* Barbara J. Gardner
* Ruthe Blalock Jones
* Mona Salyer Lambird
* Gloria Grace Langdon
* Bernice Compton Mitchell
* Donna Nigh

1996|

* Betty Boyd
* Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher
* Lela Foreman
* Sandy Ingraham
* Lorena Males
* Bernice Shedrick
* Valree Fletcher Wynn

1997|

* Isabel Keith Baker
* Jessie Thatcher Bost
* Norma Eagleton
* Kay Goebel
* Ruth Gilliland Kistler Hardaman
* Beverly Horse
* Mazola McKerson
* Penny Baldwin Williams

2000s

| 2001|

* Jari Askins
* Shirley Bellmon
* Dorothy Moses DeWitty
* Sandy Garrett
* Lynn Jones
* Yvonne Kauger
* Jill Zink Tarbel
* Dana Tiger

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2003|

* Esther Houser
* Vicki Miles-LaGrange
* Linda Morrissey
* Lynn Schusterman
* Donna Shirley

2005|

* Wanda L. Bass
* Nancy L. Coats
* Mary Fallin
* Amelia Elizabeth "Bessie" Simison McColgin
* Jeanine Rhea
* Stephanie Kulp Seymour

2007|

* Sherri Coale
* Ginny Creveling
* Joe Anna Hibler
* Maxine Horner
* Kay Martin
* Terry Neese
* Claudia Tarrington
* Carolyn Thompson Taylor
* Della Warrior

2009|

* Rita Aragon
* Suzanne Edmondson
* Edna Miller Hennessee
* Kim Henry
* Marabeau Looney
* M. Susan Savage
* Carolyn Whitener

2010s

| 2011|

* Laura Boyd
* Chloe Brown
* Joy Culbreath
* Marcia Mitchell
* Ardina Moore
* Cynthia Ross
* Kathy Taylor
* Helen Harrod Thompson

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2013|

* Ida Blackburn
* Elaine Dodd
* Lou Kerr
* Terri Watkins
* Nancy Miller
* Linda Haneborg

2015|

* LaDonna Harris
* Mary Mélon
* Marion Paden
* Thelma Parks
* Ramona Paul
* Patty Roloff
* Avis Scaramucci

2017|

* Linda Cavanaugh
* Glenda Love
* Pat Potts
* Meg Salyer
* Rhonda Walters
* Edith McKinney Gaylord

2018|

* Susan Chambers
* Jayne Anne Jayroe-Gamble
* Joan Gilmore
* Willa Johnson
* Kay Rhoads

2019|

* Noma Gurich
* Helen Holmes
* Judy Love
* Ollie Starr

2020s

| 2022|

* Sue Ann Arnall
* Carleen Burger
* Janice Dobbs
* Wanda Jackson
* Roseline Nsikak
* Kayse Shrum
* Betty McElderry
* Anna Belle Wiedemann

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2023|

* Mo Anderson
* Patricia Fennell
* Ann Felton Gilliland
* Donna Grabow
* Kim Garrett Funk
* Cathy Keating
* Freddye Harper Williams

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