MOUNT VERNON -- Dr. Meda Kay Hirons Thompson, 55, of Bolingbrook, formerly of Mount Vernon, died at 11:55 a.m. Friday, March 4, 2011, in Edward Hospital in Naperville. She was born Saturday, July 23, 1955, in Mount Vernon, to Malcolm and Rose P. (Page) Hirons. She married Neil "Rusty" Thompson on June 8, 1975, in Mount Vernon. Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, March 11, 2011, in Hughey Funeral Home in Mount Vernon, with J. Howard Kraps officiating. Interment will be in Oakwood Cemetery in Mount Vernon. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 10, 2011, at the funeral home. Survivors include her mother, Rose Hirons of Mount Vernon; husband, Neil "Rusty" Thompson of Bolingbrook; a daughter, Alyson Thompson and fiancé, Scott Nixon, of Urbana; a brother, James Hirons and wife, Karen, of Marion, Iowa; three sisters, Debra Mescher and husband, Steve, of Vincennes, Ind., Jill Lang and husband, Robert, of Hawthorn Woods, Bonnie Jones and husband, Tony, of Panama City, Fla.; father-in-law, Jack Thompson of Mount Vernon; brother-in-law, J. David Thompson and wife, Judy, of Marion; sister-in-law, Jane Treece and husband Don of Covington, La.; and several nieces and nephews also survive. She was preceded in death by her father. Dr. Meda Thompson obtained her first teaching position in 1978 with the Sandoval Community School District 501 for grades seven and eight remedial reading and mathematics program; from 1978 to 1980 she was learning disabilities research teacher for Kell Consolidated School District C-2; from 1980 to 1986 she was a special education teacher for Williamson County, Carterville and Herrin Community School Districts, during which, in 1982, she earned her Master of Science in education administration and supervision from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; from 1986 to 1989 she was program coordinator for Tri-County Special Education District in Perry County; from 1989 to 1994 she was principal, Chapter I (Title I) director and K-12 curriculum director for Carterville Community Unit School District No. 5; from 1994-99 she was assistant superintendent of instruction for Marion Community Unit School District No. 2 and attained her Doctor of Philosophy in educational administration from Southern Illinois University Carbondale; and from 1999 to her retirement in 2010 she was K-12 director of curriculum, then principal of what was then B.J. Ward Middle School and finally as Valley View School District 365U's director of professional development. For those who wish, memorials may be given to American Cancer Society and will be accepted at the funeral home or may be mailed to Hughey Funeral Home, P.O. Box 721, Mount Vernon, Illinois 62864. For more information and to send condolences, visit www.hugheyfuneralhome1969.com. Published in The Southern Illinoisan on March 8, 2011