Jeane Alberta (Ross) Thompson

Millet

1915-1977

Description

Life and Work

Jeane Alberta Ross Thompson came with her widowed mother in 1918 to live with her uncles Fred and Keith Thompson on a farm near Millet. Here she developed a strong love for nature that would lead her to later work with environmental and horticultural organizations and to take up photography.

She attended the village school in Millet and then went to Edmonton for High School, Normal School and University. She received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and took jobs with the Alberta Wheat Pool in Calgary and Department of Education in Edmonton.

After WWII she returned to Millet with her son John to the family farm. She became a member of many community service organizations, including the United Farm Women and the Red Cross, and began taking a deep interest in Millet's history. By talking to old-timers and encouraging them to record their families' histories, she helped originate the Millet and District Historical Society. Unfortunately her death in 1977 prevented her from becoming a member of the new society.

Memoirs

Memoir by Jeane Thompson

I was three years old when I came to Millet. Early in the spring, I was watching for the first crocus, first buttercup, the meadowlark, the robin and the bluebird building in the twine box on the binder. The summer roadsides, the strawberries, the woods, the berries, the fence rows and the greening of the fields.

- Jeane Thompson