Born Lilian Doris Bean in Great Yarmouth in 1903. It was there that her father, William George Bean, had begun to operate his Hotchkiss Bicycle Railway. After unsuccessful ventures there and in Brighton, the family would later move to South Shore.
When her husband died in 1976, she succeeded him as chairman of the Pleasure Beach Company, with her son, Geoffrey, becoming managing director. As chairman, she played an important role in the company, providing an important link to the past whilst being an enthusiastic advocate of whatever the present and future brought.
Away from the Pleasure Beach, Mrs Thompson became a Justice of the Peace in 1939 and played an active role in various Christian and Voluntary organisations in the borough. She was the first woman ever to be given the freedom of Blackpool.
A skilled media performer, Mrs. Thompson often represented the company on television, talking passionately about the park and her family. Perhaps one of her most famous appearances was with the boyband Boyzone at the opening of PlayStation: The Ride.
On her 100th birthday, she laid the foundation stone of the Big Blue Hotel, the first seafront hotel to be built in Blackpool for over a quarter of a century. In the same year, she received her OBE at Buckingham Palace and rode Spin Doctor at its official opening.
She died at the age of 101 on 23 June 2004, the day of her son’s funeral.