Obituary of Wanetta Marie Thompson

Wanetta Marie (Wells) Thompson passed on the evening of May 1, 2023 after a brief and sudden illness. Private graveside services will be held. A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 AM, on Friday, May 12th, 2023 at the Dickson High School gymnasium. Wanetta was born to Willis and Wanda Wells on Christmas morning, 1962 in Clinton, OK. An AirForce family, Wanetta, her sister Wadonna, and parents were stationed at Torrejón AFB in Madrid, Spain and Loring AFB, Maine in the early years of her life. The family moved to Ardmore in 1967 and Wanetta entered the first grade at Dickson in 1968. Class of 1981, Wanetta was a proud Dickson graduate. She received her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 1985 and certified in teaching in 1989. Wanetta worked for the City of Ardmore for fifteen years, primarily in water and wastewater pre-treatment. In the fall of 2000 she began teaching at Dickson High School, where she touched the lives of countless students. Over the past 23 years Wanetta taught chemistry, biology, and environmental science. Wanetta coached the Dickson cheerleading team from 2013 to 2023, and also assisted with color guard and student council through the years. Beginning in 1999, she dedicated much of her life to coaching young gymnasts at Kipper’s Gymanstics. She was preceded in death by her parents and grandmother, Hannah (Heintz) Jantz. Wanetta is survived by her sister, Wadonna Wells of Ardmore, daughter, Tara Harris and husband Daniel of Tulsa, daughter, Keely Greger and husband Tim of Sand Springs, son, Brendan Thompson of the home, grandchildren, Devan, Archer, and Elliott, special cat, Stewy, and axolotl Comet. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wanetta Thompson Memorial Scholarship fund (Dickson Foundation for Excellence) at Citizens Bank and Trust of Ardmore or to Sistema Tulsa, a program that provides free music education to elementary through high school students, which was very close to her heart.