Isabella F. (Thiel) Thompson

Isabella F. (Thiel) Thompson, 80, of Smyrna, Delaware peacefully passed away on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 16, 1945, she was the daughter of the late Neuman and Isabella (Dooley) Thiel.

Her husband of 38 years, Paul G. Thompson Sr., passed away March 18, 2004.

Isabella leaves behind her children: Tina Howell and her husband Matthew, Rosemary Sobkiw and her husband Orest, Nancy Thompson and her fiancé David Welter, as well as Paul G. Thompson Jr.; her grandson, Hunter Welter; her sister, Rosemary Chobert; her sisters-in-law, Helen Thiel and Caroline Thompson. She was predeceased by her brother, Edward Thiel.

Isabella lived a fully enriched life. She loved family very much, and she loved her pets, mostly cats over the years, maybe a little more than family. She was always driving her friends to various events and was very social. She enjoyed her bowling league, her shuffleboard league, and being a proud member of the Deaf Club in Wilmington, Delaware. At weddings and events where music would play, she would want to be close to the speakers, so she could dance to vibrations. She loved to dance. Even as her health declined with dementia, she still was so loving and was always smiling. Her wonderful caregivers at DHCI in Smyrna, DE, fondly gave her a nickname, “Izzy”. Right up to the end of her life, the staff expressed how profoundly they would miss her sweet smile.

The family wishes to express our tremendous gratitude to the entire DHCI staff that cared for our mother. Every single person that dealt with our mom, from activities, personal care, bathing, church, friends and family events, all health aspects of her, and then hospice, did so with grace and dignity. It is clear that she was deeply loved at DHCI. Thank you so much for caring for our mom.

Family and friends are invited to a visitation at the Doherty Funeral Home, 3200 Limestone Road, Pike Creek on Tuesday, March 31 from 9:30 – 11:00AM. Funeral services will begin at 11:00AM, immediately followed by interment at All Saints Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Isabella may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, PO Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090-6011 (https://www.alz.org) or Humane Animal Partners, 455 Stanton Christiana Road, Newark, DE 19713 (https://www.humaneanimalpartners.org).

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