Patricia Thompson

Patricia Hendrickson Thompson slipped away peacefully in the early morning on March 25, 2022, at her home in Houston, TX after a long and courageous battle with Parkinson’s Disease and cancer. Trish was 77 years old born in Charlottesville, VA, the first child of Dr. Glenn and Beth Hendrickson. In 1947 her father was hired as surgeon and hospital administrator for Lago Oil & Transport Co. in Aruba. What her father thought would be a couple of years overseas, turned into 27 years of calling Aruba home.  

Pat Hendrickson, later known as Trish Thompson, met her husband, John Lewell Thompson when they were six years old when she accompanied her father and new school Principal Dean V. Thompson to Aruba’s airport for the arrival of Dean’s wife Doris and two children, Mary Margaret and John. Her mother Beth liked to tell the story that when Trish saw John she said, “That’s the boy I am going to marry.”  They were sweethearts in third grade, later King and Queen of the Senior Prom and kept up with one another during college years. Trish and John married in Aruba in August 1969.

Trish and John moved to Houston in 1973 and had two daughters, Tanner and Carrie. For her girls, Trish was Mom - the best mom. The best friend, share anything with, always there for you mom. The fun mom, the one who dyed her hair purple when Tanner was in middle school. She was diagnosed with cancer when the girls were in elementary school and Parkinson’s not long after, but her dedication to her family and friends never faded.  She was always present for Tanner and Carrie with love, acceptance, and guidance or just a big hug and a good laugh.  A childhood friend of Tanner’s said, “I always felt like I could be myself with Trish, and when anyone was around her, I think we all liked ourselves a little bit more, because your mom made everyone better. Trish was all love.”

Trish became an active parent volunteer at Poe-Co Preschool and then Poe Elementary School. Her friends remember Trish bringing creativity and wit to every project. A friend shared “Trish encouraged us to look at life through a different lens and embrace it.”  

In the 1980s, Trish poured her creativity into a hand painted tee and sweat shirt business from her home studio, which she named Pink Beach after her favorite childhood beach in Aruba. In the late 1990s, she opened Screen Porch Art where she curated a collection of Outsider Art, Folk Art, handmade jewelry, and ceramics for people who collected unusual, funky, and sometimes subversive crafts and gifts.

Screen Porch Art was always more than a shop – it became Trish’s ‘salon’, the place where her wit was on display for all who visited, friends and strangers.  She often welcomed visitors in town undergoing treatment at MD Anderson. She kept little silver pocket angels in her desk drawer and loved gifting them and wishing them well.

For almost 53 years of marriage Trish and John supported each other through difficult times and celebrated the joyful events of life, all with deep respect and appreciation for what the other person brought to the relationship, raucous laughter, and most of all love. John and Trish are a true love story of 71 years. 

With John and her daughters, Trish made the decision to stop her fight and enter hospice. She found peace at home with her husband, daughters, younger sister Helen, and two caregivers, Sandra and Em, by her side. Her bedroom was full of the love she radiated for her 77 years. 

Trish is preceded in death by her parents, Glenn and Beth Hendrickson. She is survived by her husband John, her daughters Tanner Page and husband Greg and granddaughters Peyton and Anna and Carrie Parker and husband Rob and grandchildren Rosemary and Dallas. She is also survived by her siblings Kay Southard, Gordon Hendrickson and Helen Hendrickson and their families and sisters-in-law Mary Margaret Hansen and Kate Maher and their families.

A celebration of life for Trish will be held for family and friends at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Houston SPCA and Houston Area Women’s Center.