Martha Vivian Lindquist Thompson of Bemidji, passed away at home on Thurday, Aug. 3, 2017, at age 79, after a six year battle with cancer.  Services will be held at 11 a.m.,Friday Aug. 11, 2017 at New Salem Lutheran Church in Turtle River, Minn. with Rev. Krehl Stringer officiating.  Visitation will be one hour before the services. Interment will be at a laetr date in the Zumbrota Cemetery in Zumbrota.  The Cease Family Furneral Home in Bemidji assisted the family.  Martha Thompson backed into the world on Friday, May 12, 1939 in Belvidere, Ill. to parents George and Elizabeth (Stevenson) Lindquist.  The family lived in Dixon, Ill., and Martha atteneded Dixon Public schools where she was active in choir and a member of the National Honor Society, graduating in 1956.  She attended Lake Forest College and later the University of Dubuque, from which she graduated in 1961.Martha and Robert Thompson were maried in Dixon, lll., in 1961, and the couple traveled to Philadelphia, where Martha worked for the Presbyterian Church, while her husband attended medical school.  Their first son, Andrew, was born in Philadelphia.  The couple moved to Alaska in 1966, where her husband served in the Public Health Service.  There second son, Peter, was born in Alaska.  The family then moved to Minnesota in 1968 and lived in Wilmar, Rochester, and Zumbrota until theirr retirement and moved to Bemidji in 2009.  Their third son, Paul, was born in Willmar, in Rochester. Martha taught Spanish nursery school and volunteered at the Rochester State Hospital.  In Zumbrota, she was active in the United Redeemer Lutheran church and served two terms on the Zumbrota school board.  She also worked as an office manager for Bob's medical practice.  In 1988, she joined American Airlines as a customer service representatie from which she retired in 2001.Martha's other interests were her family, dog mushing, and caring for the famly's horses on their acreage in Rochester.  She also enjoyed flying and had a private pilot's license. Martha was preceded in death by her son, Paul (1989) and her parents. She leaves her beloved sons, Andrew and Peter, their wives, Wenday Kalass Thompson (Andrew), Mayumi Inoue Thompson (Peter); and four wonderful grandchildren: in Bemidji, Ben and Ellie, and in San Francisco, Rika and Naota; and sister Mary Mobarak of Dixon, Ill. Memorials ae preferred to New Salem Lutheran Church, Turtle River Watershed Association or other organizations.  Condolences may be left at  ceasefuneralhome.com.