The Thompson family is incredibly sad to announce the passing of Eileen Ann (Miles) Thompson, after a
long illness. She passed on March 22, 2025 surrounded by family.
She is survived by her husband, Stanley, and her three children (William, Clark and Rebecca), their
spouses, 12 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren, and her sister, Christina Miles.
Eileen lived an amazing life. Born on the Fourth of July in Plymouth, IN in 1937 to George and Florence
Miles, she was their sixth child of seven. She and her husband, Stanley, were high school sweethearts,
who later married after she was a radio engineer at WSBT, and he finished university and was in the
army. They lived all over the country: Cleveland, Ohio; Tampa, Brandon, Seffner and Sarasota, Florida,
and Birmingham, AL, all while raising their three children. They had homes in Sacramento, CA; their 18-
acre llama ranch in Florence, Montana; a beautiful condo on Norris Lake in Andersonville (near
Knoxville), TN and in Birmingham, AL (twice). She always loved travelling and travelled the world, visited
six of seven continents, went to Soviet Russia, China, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, all over Southern
America, Europe, Australia, and many other countries. They have taken many cruises and been to nearly
every state. They have house-boated in Alaska, the Sacramento River Delta, the St. Johns River, and the
Florida Keys. She used to have Thanksgivings on canoe trips in Florida on the Peace River. Weekends
were spent camping all over Florida and a couple of cross-country trips and visits to extended family
who lived in the northern part of Indiana or in California and Arizona. She was a den mother in Cub
Scouts. She arranged fantastic family reunions in the most amazing places like Turks and Caicos, where
they took the entire family for their 50 th wedding anniversary, and Jenny Wiley State Park in the middle
of nowhere Kentucky, the beaches of Florida, the Smoky Mountains, and other great places, not to
mention taking her adult children to Yellowstone for a fantastic trip for their 60 th wedding anniversary
just a couple of years ago. She and Stanley had already taken all their grandchildren there. They took
each of their grandchildren, two at a time, on car trips around America when the kids were aged 7 and
then again at age 14. Each of those trips concluded at their ranch in Montana, which was built by them,
for them, and fit them to a tee, when Stan retired at age 52. She loved cars, especially convertibles, and
had several notable ones including a Ford convertible, a Mazda RX7, a 1970 Dodge Challenger, and her
Toyota Solara. She was extremely devoted to Stanley and was rarely seen without him and vice versa.
They had a story book love affair and life together and were married for almost 63 years at her passing.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to the local charity of your choice. There will
be a burial at New Oak Hill Cemetery (Plymouth, IN) on April 25, 2025 at 1:00 pm followed by a
gathering at The Brass Rail Restaurant (225 N. Michigan St., Plymouth, IN 46563).
Thank you to all our friends and community for your support during this difficult time. Deaton-Clemens
Van Gilder Funeral Home is honored to be providing services in celebrating the life of Eileen and wishes
to extend our deepest condolences to the Thompson family. Friends are invited to sign the online guest
book and share memories with the family at: www.deatonclemensfh.com.
