- Date Of Birth: March 17, 1921
- Date Of Death: May 4, 2012
- State: Michigan
Born March 17, 1921 in Lancaster, Ohio, the daughter of Cordelia Sarah (Bohlman) Hunter and George William Hunter. Bea graduated from Lancaster High School in 1939. She worked at The Barn (an ice cream shop) where she met her future husband, Thomas Thompson. They moved to Portland in 1947 and their first home was in the Divine Hotel. Bea worked for Albert’s Restaurant baking pies that, to this day, have been surpassed by none. She worked for Meitler’s nursing home, a job that fulfilled her dream of nursing. Bea and her husband were owners of the original Tommie’s Restaurant in Portland where she again baked her famous pies. Bea joined and was very active in the Nazarene Church. She and Tommie moved to Duck Lake where she enjoyed being a minister’s wife, then they returned to Portland to retire. Bea was predeceased by her husband, parents, three brothers-Ken, Bill, and Ray, one sister-Beulah, and their spouses. Her four loving daughters and their spouses survive her: Sandra (Thomas) Meitler of Portland, Gayle Thompson of Ionia, Noel (Bruce) Bennett of Portland, and Penny (Bernard) Dabney of Holt. Also surviving are 11 grandchildren and their spouses, 17 great grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, and one sister-in-law, Roma Parker.
