There is a mom who lives in Batesville, Ark., who makes the best pies around, according to her son, Allen County Regional Hospital Administrator, Tony Thompson.
“In fact my favorite is coconut creme pie,” he said.
Carolyn Jean Thompson is an 82-year-old mother of four, grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of seven. She was born in Batesville, Ark., and grew up in Bethesda, where she graduated from high school. She worked at a shoe factory for a short time before marrying Marion Thompson,who had an 18-month-old daughter, Sherry. Carolyn instantly became a stay-at-home mom, caring for Sherry, and eventually Tony and his two other siblings. When her youngest turned six, Carolyn re-entered the workforce to work for Emerson Electric. She was active in the PTA and volunteered at Calvary Baptist Church.
“There was never a question about whether we were going to church,” Tony said.
Carolyn is extroverted, engaging and always has a big laugh, according to Tony; traits that he feels have been passed down and serve him well as a hospital administrator. He admires the fact that upon marrying his dad, his mom immediately took on the responsibility of raising a family. He also admires her basketball skills. Carolyn played on a team as a child, during an era in which the games were played “three on three” with defensive players rotating with offensive players. She played offense. Years later Carolyn could still beat Tony at a game of H-O-R-S-E.
“She was good,” Tony said of her ability to make set shots.
Carolyn was stern when it came to homework and often directed Tony’s two older sisters to make sure Tony had it finished. Privileges like going outside to play were taken away if he failed to complete the task.
“For the most part it was not an option,” he said.
Often the best advice he received from his mother was associated with an admonition and its consequences. Tony said his upbringing inspired responsibility for actions and the realization that his life would be a product of the choices he made for himself. Those lessons, he said, are as important for today’s youths. There are other lessons that Tony has carried throughout his life; such as how to cook breakfast and how to sort laundry.
“That serves you well as you get a little bit older,” he said. “That you can fend for yourself.”
Tony still makes scrambled eggs the way his mom showed him. It is Carolyn who also taught him how to drive in a 1962 Chevrolet throughout the Ozark Mountains.
Carolyn lives by herself since the passing of her husband two years ago. She enjoys activities at the senior center and baking special pies and cakes in celebration of family members’ birthdays. Baking is not a trait that Tony inherited from his mother though. During his college years he thought he could bake a coconut pie for himself and his roommate.
“I watched Mom cook those meringue pies and I thought I could do that,” he said. “The problem was that she was able to make the meringue with a blender and I thought you could use a fork.”
The pie ended up a flat disaster that seeped through the cracks of the crust, he said.
“My mother would have laughed if she had seen it,” Tony said. “The meringue was fried.”
Tony visits his mother once a month and calls her every Sunday. Carolyn still asks what kind of pie Tony wants before he comes to visit.
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