Noraleen Thompson Laverty

Noraleen Gipe Thompson Laverty passed away peacefully on December 24, 2013, at Sunrise Assisted Living in McLean, Virginia, where she had made her home for more than 8 years. Noraleen was born April 19, 1920, in Krum, Texas, to Walter J. Gipe and Sara Ellen Miller Gipe both of Moody, Texas. The family moved to Denton, Texas, when she was in elementary school. She graduated from Denton's North Texas State Teacher's College (now North Texas State University) in 1940 and moved to Port Arthur to take a teaching job at DeQueen Elementary school. She met and married George Lewis (Tommy) Thompson in 1942. All her life in Port Arthur, Noraleen was very involved in The First Baptist Church. She was also a member of The Service League and PEO. She taught in the Port Arthur Independent School District for more than 20 years, both at DeQueen and Robert E. Lee Elementary schools. She taught first grade and then worked as a reading specialist. Tommy died in 1977 and 3 years later she remarried Vergil Laverty from DesMoines, Iowa. She and Vergil split their time between Port Arthur, Des Moines and a lake home near Branson, Missouri. They were married for almost 20 years. Vergil passed away in 1999 and Noraleen went to live in California near her daughter. This "Texas" girl did not take well to life on the West Coast and soon returned to Port Arthur to live at Rose House in mid-Jefferson County. She was there until 2005 when she moved to McLean to be near her son in Virginia. She spent many happy days there involved in all the activities, especially the music and dancing. Noraleen is survived by a son, Robert Thompson of McLean, Virginia; a daughter, Judith Thompson Orr of Fremont, California and 5 grandchildren: Colin Orr, Foster City, California; Geoff Orr, Brighton Colorado; Jeremy Orr, Fremont, California; Derek Thompson, New York, New York; and Kira Thompson, Santa Monica, California. There will be viewing at Levingston Funeral Home between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 30, 2014. Noraleen will be laid to rest with her husband Tommy in a service at the Veterans Administration National Cemetery in Houston at 2pm on Friday, January 31, 2014. The family gratefully requests donations in Noraleen's name be made to the Alzheimer's Association: www.alz.org