April D. Thompson

Daughter of Marie (Tom) Ortgies and Edward Michael Soukup Jr. A Memorial Service for April will be held on Monday, December 15, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Geneva, Nebraska, with Pastor Karissa Miller presiding. A Book Signing with family present will be held on Sunday, December 14, 2025, from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. at Farmer & Son Funeral Home in Geneva, Nebraska. Private Family Burial of Ashes will be held at a later date at the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Bruning, Nebraska. Memorials are to be directed to the family to be designated at a later date. April Dawne Thompson was born to Edward Michael Soukup, Jr, and Marie (Meyer) Ortgies on April 22, 1981, at Geneva, Nebraska, and passed away on December 7, 2025, at Essentia Health in Deer River, MN at the age of 44. April started kindergarten at the Ohiowa Public School in Ohiowa, NE, and transferred to Geneva Public School at mid-term of first grade. She graduated from Geneva Public School and entered a cosmetology school. She worked at multiple jobs, including retail, nursing homes, meat lockers, grocery stores, and her last job as a home healthcare/cleaning service. No matter where she worked, she took pride in a job well done and especially liked working with the elderly because she had a special place in her heart for the grandparent type, and they enjoyed the special attention. April lived with her special friend and partner, Derrick John, for 4 years. Many a home improvement or automotive job was completed with the cooperation and hard work of the two of them together. From a young age, April loved animals of all kinds. She had multiple pets over the years. Because she wasn’t able to have children, the pets became her beloved children. She also took in some over-the-age foster children who often were left with no place to live. Using the hard lessons she learned over time, she would teach them the tools of independent living like cooking, making and living within a budget, saving for a car, and getting a driver’s license. April liked to draw. Some of her drawings were elaborate, whimsical visions, and some were portraits of people and animals. She is preceded in death by Grandfather Edward Soukup, Grandmother Helen Soukup, Grandfather Glenn Meyer, Grandmother Mildred Ortgies, Grandfather William Ortgies, Uncle Thomas Gaston, Aunt Glenda Gaston, Uncle Willard Meyer and Uncle John Hanlin. She is survived by mother and father, Thomas and Marie Ortgies; father Edward (Mike) Soukup; Brother Jeffrey (Michele) Ortgies, Grandmother Dorothy Meyer; Aunts and Uncles – Carol Hanlin, Donna Meyer, Ed and Lila Koca, Claine and Cathy Meyer, Verryl and Jodi Meyer; Niece Andrea Ortgies; Nephew Nolan Ortgies; Partner/Friend Derrick John; and a host of beloved first and second cousins.

Tributes

April D. Thompson

April 22, 1981 - December 7, 2025