Berna R. Thompson, 84; Child Actress and Longtime La Mesan

Like many other youngsters with stars in their eyes, Idaho-born Berna Thompson headed west to Hollywood as a child, scoring a number of small roles and dancing with Shirley Temple as part of the legendary Meglin Kiddies dance troupe.  She also attended the Pasadena Playhouse’s school of theater arts, which trained such notables as Raymond Burr, Ernest Borgnine, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman.

But superstardom was not her fate—after a brief stint back in Ririe, ID, Thompson earned a degree in English literature from USC and later helped her parents run their pharmacy and soda fountain in Las Vegas (the only one in town at the time), where she also picked up modeling jobs for local businesses. 

It wasn’t until 1964 that Thompson and her husband, Charles, discovered Southern California’s Jewel of the Hills, La Mesa, where she stayed the rest of her life.

Berna R. Thompson died Easter Sunday, April 24, at 84.

After settling in, Thompson pursued a master’s degree and teaching credential at SDSU, and began teaching kindergarten at Kellogg Elementary School in Chula Vista.  According to her family, she kept in touch with several students over the years, even long after retirement.

But underneath the satisfaction she gleaned from her career and fulfilling family life, the acting bug still nipped away, and in the late 1960s she appeared in several Safeway commercials and other small roles. 

Even though her later work didn’t compare with tap dancing alongside the legendary Temple—which she considered one of her proudest achievements—it gave her just the slightest bit of notoriety, and a little extra sparkle in the Jewel of the Hills.

More information on Thompson can be found in her announcement.