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In a heartfelt ceremony filled with memories, gratitude and a few laughs, the City of LaGrange officially renamed Linden Avenue to Jim Thompson Drive in honor of a late city employee who dedicated more than three decades of his life working for the city and serving grieving families with dignity and compassion.

Mayor Jim Arrington opened the ceremony by thanking the Thompson family and acknowledging Jim Thompson’s lifetime of service. “This is a man who gave his entire adult life to the City of LaGrange,” the mayor said. “I wish I could have thanked him, but we are here now to honor him.”

Family members, city leaders, city employees and friends gathered at the site for the dedication, which was marked not only by fond words but also by a deep sense of community appreciation.

The mayor, noting the light-hearted side of the event, recalled joking with council members when there was concern about residents having to change their addresses, “there’s a ton of residents here, but nobody on this street has a mailbox,” since the road runs entirely through Shadowlawn Cemetery.

Jim Thompson’s son, Mark Thompson, addressed the crowd with visible emotion and gratitude. “Daddy would have been beside himself,” Mark said. “He would have called everybody in six states saying, ‘they going to name a road after me.’” Mark extended thanks to friends, family, retired city workers, and especially Trip Foster, a close friend who helped organize the event.

Foster also spoke, sharing a touching story that illustrated Jim Thompson’s legacy. He recalled visits to Shadowlawn Cemetery as a child with his grandmother, who brought him and his sister to pay respects to their family. When they were unsure of the location of a relative’s grave, it was Thompson who found it—not with modern GPS or software, but by referencing a large book and finding the longitude and latitude of the plot. “He didn’t try to explain it. He just said, ‘Come with me,’ and he’d take you right to it,” Foster recalls.

Foster described Thompson as someone who “ministered through his job,” providing support and guidance to thousands of LaGrange families during their most difficult moments. “He was the minister of this cemetery,” Foster said. “A good name is far above great riches, and Jim Thompson had a good name, and he still has that good name today. I’m thankful that the city leaders found it befitting to honor him today by name and renaming Linden Avenue to Jim Thompson Drive.”

The event concluded with the unveiling of the new street sign and a ribbon cutting with the LaGrange-Troup Chamber of Commerce.

The renaming of Linden Avenue to Jim Thompson Drive is not only a symbolic gesture—it is a permanent reminder of a man whose work, though often unseen, left a lasting mark on