Patti Thompson was born in Louisville,
Kentucky, the fifth of six children. She grew up in Corinth, Mississippi, and always enjoyed singing in church and singing
to her cats.
After graduating from the Columbia School of Broadcasting, Patti worked as a disc jockey at
WCMA Radio Station in Corinth, and was active in the Corinth Theatre Arts as an Assistant Director and performer. Married,
with cats, she moved to Houston, Texas, spending the next few years working as an executive secretary for an electrical firm.
In 1978, she moved back to her beloved Mississippi, and once again her theatrical yearnings found the purr-fect outlet when
she joined the Tupelo Community Theatre as a member of numerous tech crews, performed in several plays, served as a board
member, and directed three TCT productions.
Just like her cats, always looking
for a new adventure, Patti joined the Tupelo Police Department Reserve Unit and became their first female graduate. Being
married to a police officer at the time, she saw a need for the officers’ wives to have a forum of their own, and organized
the Tupelo Police Wives Auxiliary. Needing a paying job to support her volunteer habits, Patti joined the staff of Way-Fil
Jewelry as typist. She is now the owner of Way-Fil Jewelry where she designs, manufactures, repairs, and appraises all types
of jewelry and is one of the two most sought-after jewelry appraisers in the state. Patti serves as a Board Member for the
Mississippi Jewelers Association and the Tupelo-Lee Humane Society. Patti and her cats have opened their home over the years, to
host six European exchange students through the Educational Foundation. The cats are always available for a lap-sitting session
whenever one of the students got a little homesick or found America too overwhelming. In Cat Hymns, Patti is the
voice of Gwenipurr. At the First Baptist Church in Verona, Mississippi, she is the soprano in the third row from the back.
A long friendship and leaning
on each other in times of trouble finally resulted in marriage for Stephen and Patti Thompson. They met when Tupelo Community
Theatre underwent a major renovation. Patti was on the Board of Directors and Stephen headed the design team that made the
interior selections. And these past four years as a team have not only been happy, but creative and productive as well. Certainly
their teamwork on Cat Hymns has been for them a fun and rich blessing.
Their seven cats, A.J. (Adolph, Jr.), Krispy Kritter, Sister Very Merry Phyllis,
O.J., Mamma Kitty, Taz, and Spike, allow them to share their home in Tupelo.
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Books by Patti Thompson:
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