Ben L. Thompson (1928-2016)

Ben L. Thompson, 88, McCracken, died Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016 at Rush County Memorial Hospital, LaCrosse, Kan.  
He was born April 23, 1928 in McCracken to Floyd Audice and Ruby Eleanor Yawger Thompson.
He was a 1946 graduate of McCracken High School and a 1951 graduate of Kansas State College in the field of physics. He was a U.S. Army Veteran, drafted in 1954 and served until 1956 at Fort Ord, Calif.  He was released early to attend college in Mexico City, Mexico.
He worked at the Naval Ordinance Test Station at China Lake and at Pasadena, Calif. and at the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico.
He continued his work at the California Institute of Technology. He traveled all over the United States to find the best research facility in the country settling on the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. where he was a researcher in physics. He worked there for 35 years.
Survivors include a niece, Susan and her husband, Mike Keith, Ellsworth; a great-niece, Shannon Keith, Manhattan; sister-in-law, Carolyn Thompson, McCracken; Albert and Judy Yawger Hugh, Hays; Debra, Joyce and Wanda Yawger Luft, Wichita; Doris Thompson, Lawrence and Joyce Thompson, Goddard, other cousins and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Floyd Thompson.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m.  Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016, at the United Methodist Church, McCracken with inurnment following in the McCracken Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the United Methodist Church, Jail/Museum, McCracken Alumni, Library or the West-Burch Post 59 American Legion, all at McCracken.
Arrangements are with Fitzgerald Funeral Home, Ness City. Words of sympathy and support may be left for the family at www.fitzgeraldfuneral.com