KENNEBUNK – Betty Thompson passed away on Aug. 15, in Kennebunk.

She was born in Arlington, Mass., in 1920, the daughter of Ernest Merrill and Ruth Frost Moore. She graduated from Bates College in 1942 with a bachelor of arts in English, and the same year married classmate Julian Ray Thompson, to whom she was married for 40 years until his death in 1982.

After graduation, she followed her husband to Waco, Texas; there she held the first of her many library positions, on the staff of the Waco Public Library. During his service overseas during World War II, she worked as an insurance adjuster for Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. in Boston, and as a physical education teacher at Lewiston High School.

She raised her family in New Hampshire, and when the family moved to Mohawk, N.Y., in 1965, she decided to make her love of literature a career.

She obtained a master’s in library science from Syracuse University in 1968, and was inducted into the International Library Science Honor Society. She served as director of the Illion Public Library from 1966 to 1984; there she initiated many new programs and oversaw construction of an extension which doubled the library in size.

Upon her retirement in 1984, she returned to New England, and settled in Kennebunk, where she enjoyed living near her family and watching her grandchildren grow up. While in Kennebunk, she was active in the Newcomers’ Club, the Seacoast Garden Club, the Embroiderers Guild of America, and the Brick Store Museum.

She had a strong interest in genealogy, and spent many years tracing her family’s roots around New England. She was an accomplished pianist, and loved traveling, sewing and needlework. She instilled her love of reading in her children, spent many hours reading to her young grandchildren, and will be remembered as a warm friend with a wry sense of humor.

She is survived by son, Stephen Thompson, daughter-in-law, Cynthia Wheatley Thompson and their children, Katherine Elizabeth and Stephen, all of Kennebunk; daughter, Elizabeth Thompson of Kennebunk; son, Jay Thompson of Seabrook, N.H.; as well as extended family throughout Maine.

The family wishes to thank the staff of Atria Kennebunk for their care and kindness to Betty during the years she lived there; that kindness was certainly extended to the rest of the family during these last few difficult months.