Harry Thomas "Buddy" Thompson

Harry Thomas “Buddy” Thompson passed away November 26, 2018, after a two year battle with small cell lung cancer.  He was born to Harry and Dovie Thompson on August 21, 1949.  His parents actually paid the delivery doctor with five acres in South Walton County.  After high school, he joined the Marines and was sent to Vietnam.  When he was 21 years old, Buddy stepped on a landmine when he went back to save a fellow Marine in the same circumstances.  He received a Purple Heart and was medically retired from the Marines.  The rest of his life, he had to live with pain but he was a hard worker, never missing a day of work in carpentry and cabinet making.  After he met his wife, Pat, he started work at Eglin AFB for Civil Engineering and Range Support.  He loved that job!  When that term ended, he took a job at Tyndall AFB and drove three hours back and forth every day until he received a transfer to Hurlburt AFB.  When he was forced to retire in 1998, his doctor wrote in the recommendation letter that “anyone who would drive three hours a day to work was not one who didn’t want to work.”

He is survived by his loving wife of 30 years, Patricia B. Thompson; three children, Michael Andrew, Beverly Ann, and Samantha Rose and many nieces and nephews.  He is also survived by his granddaughter, Haley Laflin Horkman (Chris Horkman), who was the light of his life.  They gave him a great-granddaughter, Charlotte Hazel, and named his great-grandson, Thomas after Buddy.  He also is survived by his grandson, Corey Andrew, currently living in Colorado, whom he loved dearly.  He and his wife spent 30 years working hard together whether in their woodworking shop or building homes until they finished their last dream home.  The final years, he got his hog permit and spent his time out in the woods trapping hogs and training dogs with the help of his good friend Tony Knutson and his son Landon plus his children Beverly and Michael.  They were there for him in the woods when he could go no further and made sure he was always watched and cared for.  He will be missed deeply by all that loved him. 

Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 1, 2018, in the chapel of Davis-Watkins Funeral Home, 1474 Highway 83 North, DeFuniak Springs, Florida 32433, beginning at 2 p.m. with Reverend Louis Taunton officiating.  A time of visitation will be held one hour prior to the service.  Committal services will follow at Hatcher Cemetery in Freeport with military honors provided by the United States Marine Corp.  Flowers are being accepted, or in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project at https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org. If you would like to send a donation by mail the instructions are provided on the website.   

Arrangements and services are under the direction of Davis-Watkins Funeral Home.