Helen Marie Burnstad Thompson

After living 95 remarkable years, longtime Sandpoint resident Helen M. Thompson passed away peacefully on Jan. 19, 2012, at the Life Care Center surrounded by family and friends. Born Dec. 10, 1916, Helen grew up in Burnstad, N.D., a tiny town named for her father, C.P. Burnstad, a Norwegian immigrant and prominent Dakota cattleman. He and his Irish-American wife Victoria had a dozen lively children, and Helen enjoyed a childhood of horseback riding, swimming in the local lake, and, she always claimed, avoiding housework. Raised by her loving brothers and sisters after her mother died, Helen graduated from high school at 15 during the Great Depression and then, with characteristic tenacity, worked and studied for seven years in order to graduate from the University of Wyoming. In 1942, Helen married childhood friend and the love of her life, James L. Thompson. They and their family, which grew to include seven children, moved to Wrenco, west of Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1957. Jim's death in 1960 left Helen with few financial resources, but with characteristic determination, she began working for the U. S. Forest Service and raising those seven kids, all of them now Sandpoint High School alumni and college graduates. Honored in 1982 as Idaho Mother of the Year and then National Mother of the Year, Helen served her community as a member of the local Library Board, the Presbyterian Church, the Civic Club, and the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, among many other activities. She and her children skied Schweitzer from its beginning, and many will recall that well into her ’80s, she was the kind and helpful lady at the information booth and the lost and found office on the mountain. Helen's other enthusiasms included good books, bad puns, and games like pinochle, bridge, and cribbage. A fearless traveler, she visited, among other places, Samoa, Norway, Venezuela, Thailand and Mexico, and for years kept her passport in her purse "just in case." And horses — how she loved the horses in her life, from her childhood ponies to her later beautiful Arabs. Until her health began to fail, Helen spent as much time as possible outdoors on her place on the hill above the Pend Oreille River, fixing fence, chopping wood and entertaining family and friends. She never grew to love housework, but she made great oatmeal cookies for all her guests. In recent years, Helen insisted that if she could just get back on a horse again, life would be great. All of her family smiles that she is now reunited with her beloved Jim, and the two of them are on celestial steeds, loping across the pastures of heaven. Helen was preceded in death by her parents, her 11 brothers and sisters, her husband, Jim; several nieces and nephews; and her grandson, Jimmy Bruce. Her survivors, all of whom love her dearly, include her seven children, Jim (Rose Marie), Mary (Mike), Mike (Corky), Chris (Judy), Beth, Sigrid (Bob), and Kirsten (Tom); nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews and extended family; and her many friends. Helen's family thanks Dr. Leedy and the staff of The Bridge and Life Care Center for caring for her so respectfully and so well during these past eight years. Your compassion was a gift. Services will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 417 N. Fourth Ave., in Sandpoint on Friday, Jan. 27, at 1 p.m. The family suggests that those wishing to donate in her memory consider gifts to the Panhandle Animal Shelter or to the Friends of the Library, East Bonner County Library.