Laketa "Lucky" Marie Thompson

Laketa (Lucky) Marie Rickly Thompson died peacefully at home on Thursday December 8, 2016. She had been diagnosed with colon cancer about 12 weeks ago. Lucky was born on June 17th, 1940 at Janesville, Wisconsin while her parents William Rickly and Merle Rickly were on a fishing trip. They made a wonderful catch. Soon after birth, she and her parents moved from Osceola, Nebraska to the Seattle, Washington area. They lived there about 2 to 3 years until William was killed in a boating accident. Her mother moved them to Memphis, Tennessee to live with her father. After Merle got her own home, her husbands mother came to live with them and help care for Lucky. Lucky went to school in Memphis and played snare drums in the band in Junior High and High School. While in high school she dated a class mate (Phil) who took karate lessons with Elvis Presley. She and her boyfriend were invited several times to Graceland to party with Elvis. Lucky said that Elvis was one of the kindest sweetest persons she ever met. After graduating from Central High School in Memphis, she was given a band scholarship to the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). She told me about the football team and t...[more]

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marching band playing in the Cotton Bowl one year against Texas. She thought the Texas fans were pretty rowdy. After graduation from college, she worked in Pennsylvania for a book publisher doing proof reading. She then moved to New Orleans to work for Shell Oil in seismic analysis. During this time, she lived in an apartment on St. Charles Street and took the streetcar to work each day. A couple of years later, she was hired as a computer programmer for Chrysler Corp, who had a contract with NASA to help with the Apollo Moon mission and began working in Slidell, Louisiana. There Lucky met her soon to be husband Hadley and they were married a year later in Memphis. Since the NASA contract was winding down, Lucky and Hadley found new jobs in Sunnyvale, California (south of San Francisco). Lucky initially worked for Philco Ford on military contracts. She later found a job at Control Data. After 7 years in California, Lucky and her husband moved back to the Twin Cities in Minnesota after being transferred by Control Data. She worked for Control Data for about 20 years and then took a job with AIC doing contract work for IBM. She and her husband moved to Rochester for the AIC job. After several years with AIC, she went on to work for Experience Works and began doing substitute teaching in Rochester High Schools. She retired about 8 years ago and did volunteer work for a few years with Elder Network. She went twice a week to the Healthy Living Center to take a water aerobics class and very much enjoyed her instructor Julie and all of the other classmates. She loved her animals (3 horses who passes away, her 3 cats and her dog). She loved gardening and taking the dog for walks around our 50 acre farm. She was very devout and read the Bible cover to cover several times. She very much enjoyed golfing with her friend Susanne Daood. Her husbands brother and sisters loved Lucky and thought of her as a real sister. Lucky is survived by her husband Hadley, her 3 cats (Leo, Cleo and Ginger) and her Samoyed dog Dusty and all the many people who loved her, admired her and will miss her very much. A funeral service will be held on Monday, December 12, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Homes. Visitation will take place from 1:00-5:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 11, 2016 at Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Homes and from Noon 2:00 p.m. on Monday, December 12, 2016 at the funeral home. To share a special memory please visit www.ranfranzandvinefh.com Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Homes 5421 Royal Place NW Rochester, MN 55901 (507) 289-3600