Anthony “Tony” Thompson’s funeral service was a bit out of the ordinary, to say the least. First of all, it was billed as a “party.” Second, friends and family were asked to bring their favorite funny “Tony” stories to tell to “keep the laughs going.” But then, Thompson wasn’t your everyday kind of guy. All who knew Thompson describe him as a larger-than-life character who never met a stranger and always kept people laughing.
Longtime friend Steve Bajc, now living in Bejing, called Thompson his “best friend” and honored the family’s request to keep his remarks light by adding in a Facebook post, “Your spirit will always be with me when I am on the golf course, with memories of the par I got without chipping or putting because we were high tailing it to the next tee due to your errant fairway shot heading towards a car driving along the side road.”
Thompson’s wife of 33 years, Nancy, said Thompson would not have wanted a funeral service that was a “downer” or gloomy.
“Tony was about the most positive person you can imagine,” she said. “He believed negative people are just not worth worrying about, what other people think of you is their problem, you just let things go because you don’t need to fight every battle head on. He wanted people to laugh and be happy.”
She said he had a habit of making unexpected comments, such as his pronouncement on their first date that she would be his wife and they would have a son named Rock, who would be an All-American halfback for Notre Dame.
“He was right about two things: I did become his wife, and we did have a son, Rock,” she said. “But he was off just a little bit. Rock became a K9 deputy sheriff for Lamar County. Of course, Tony was very proud of Rock. Tony said he came up with the idea that Rock would play for Notre Dame because Notre Dame was always on TV, win or lose. He was always coming up with off-the-wall things, but that was Tony.”
Anthony A. “Tony” Thompson, 61, died Nov. 11 of heart failure. Survivors include his wife, Nancy, and son, Rock. Thompson was born at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta on July 11, 1955, and was a life-long resident of Atlanta. He attended Auburn University where he was a walk-on player on the football team, sparking an enduring love of Auburn football.
“He liked Georgia, too – when they weren’t playing Auburn,” Nancy said.
Cars also figured prominently in Thompson’s life. He was well known for washing his Chevy Cruze every week and sometimes twice a week, leading to the tongue-in-cheek creation of the Fund for Men Who Wash Their Car Every Week. His love of Corvettes was commemorated in another car “fund,” the Tony Thompson Corvette Fund.
“Tony took a lot of medicines for his heart, and he would put all of his change and mine into empty medicine bottles and say, ‘I’m now probably up to $30 on my Corvette fund.’ ”
The “party” for Thompson was held on Nov. 17 at Arlington Memorial Park’s Sunrise Chapel in Sandy Springs with 120 attendees, including many of the doctors and nurses who had treated him over the years. Among those sending floral arrangements and food were two bars where Thompson regularly met up with his friends, Nancy Thompson said.
“Tony hadn’t had a drink in eight years, but he would to go to a couple of bars and hang out to see his friends,” she said. “That led to friendships with people at the bars, who like everyone else, loved him.”
Bajc’s final comments were directed to Thompson and reflected the tone of the service: “I know you are off to a better place, but please do not try to ruin it too badly until the rest of us join you there.”
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