Writing about someone’s life

I wrote my first Missourian life story last week and I thought it would be a rather daunting and difficult task, but it was easy for me. Missourian life stories are a little different that a regular obituary. The Missourian has a regular obituary for a person who has died, but the Missourian life story gives readers a better impression of the person’s life and memories of family members and friends.

I wrote it about Kenneth Ray Tompkins. Mr. Tompkins was from the small town of Fruita, Colorado and attended McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas and majored in physics. He then earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. He married Janice mock his junior year at McPherson and she told me many fond memories about him.

She said when they lived in Phoenix Arizona for Mr. Tompkin’s job she would sit on the California beach and wait for him and their three year old son to come back from snorkeling or scuba diving. She said in their Phoenix home that they had tropical plants in their backyard and had 46 squirrel monkeys in a cage. She said there was ivy, grape vines, palmtrees, a bird of paradise, a pool and more. They then moved back to Mr. Tompkins hometown where he started a construction business. When there was a financial crisis in the town they moved to Columbia because they had family nearby and liked the area.

Their son Mike and his wife now run Tompkins construction. Mike said he is now teaching the skills he learned from his dad to his son in regards to wood work, construction, values and perseverence. Mike and Mr. Tompkins wife said he was a big influence on their lives and have many fond memories.

I learned a lot of interesting things about life stories while writing Mr. Tompkin’s obituary. I already know that death is a part of life, but even without meeting Mr. Tompkins I got some insight of his personality and family memories without ever talking to him. Normally things like this are morbid and a time for remembrance, but I thought it was enjoyable to learn this person’s influence on other people’s lives and the impact he has left for his loved ones and people of the community.