Ethel Lena V. Thompson
Kingstree

     Mrs. Thompson was born June 22, 1923, in Kingstree, a daughter of the late Edward McPherson Vause and Lena Alma Haddock Vause. She was a 1940 graduate of Kingstree High School, attended Draughans Business School in Columbia and Coker College in Hartsville, and worked at Harold T. McGill Distributing for 45 years. “Miss Ethel Lena” was a member of The Pilot Club of Kingstree and a member of Williamsburg Presbyterian Church, where she faithfully directed their choir for 23 years.  

     An honor came to her on April 14, 1991 during the morning worship service at Williamsburg Presbyterian Church.  That day her fellow choir member, Jack Merritt Edwards, came forward and began speaking in honor of the surprised Ethel Lena.  He said: “We are deeply grateful to God for having given us this beautiful voice and this wonderful person who has brought us so much through the years.  This member has served your church with love, honor, distinction, and dedication for over 50 years, having joined us as a teenager.  She has helped christen your babies, marry your children, and consoled you in the loss of your loved one.  She has served as your choir director for 23 years.” 

     In addition to her parents and her husband Claude, she was preceded in death by 2 brothers, William M. “Will” Vause and Edward M. “Ed” Vause.  Surviving are her sister, Mary Frances Vause Kennedy, of Kingstree and numerous loving and caring nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews. 

      Funeral services will be Sunday November 3, 2013 at 3:00 PM, in Williamsburg Presbyterian Church, with burial in Kingstree Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends 1:30 to 2:30 PM in Grace Hall at Williamsburg Presbyterian Church prior to the service. Memorials may be made to Williamsburg Presbyterian Church, 411 N. Academy Street, Kingstree, SC 29556.  

Online condolences may be sent to the family here: wmsbgfuneral@ftc-i.net