Richard Duane ‘Rip’ Thompson, age 96, of Cottage Grove MN, formerly of River Falls WI, died peacefully in the early hours of Sunday January 23, 2022.

Richard was born May 3, 1925 on a farm in Goldfield, IA; son of Elmer and Selma Thompson.

On January 31, 1944, Richard enlisted in the United States Navy as a Fireman First Class and served until January 1947. Richard proudly served during World War II on a navy ship during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Upon his return, he was married to Beverly Thompson on November 19, 1947 in Eagle Grove, IA. Richard was employed with Control Data as a Design Technician for 22 years and retired in 1987. Richard enjoyed fishing, camping, traveling and golfing.

He is proceeded in death by his parents Elmer and Selma Thompson; his brother Arnold Hans Thompson; sisters Deloris V Holmes and Grace Schmidgall.

He is survived by son Nickolas (Deb) Thompson of Cordes Lake, AZ and daughter Kathryn Ann (Bill) Kortus of Maplewood, MN. He was a loving grandfather to Michele Hintzman, Heather (Aaron) Will, Corrie Teske, Amy Anderson, Jason Kortus and Lindsey Kortus. He is further survived by great-grandchildren, Randall, Kayla, Emerald, Samantha and Malaina; and sister Shirley Rollefson.

Funeral service for Richard will be 2PM, Monday, January 31, 2022 at the O’Connell Family Funeral Home, 225 So. 3rd Street in River Falls. Burial will be in the Greenwood Cemetery. Military honors paying respect to his service in the Navy will be performed by the River Falls American Legion Fletcher Pechacek Post. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at O’Connell’s. Memorials preferred to the discretion of the family. Funeral services entrusted to the O’Connell Family Funeral Home of River Falls.