Alice Aust was born June 14, 1930 in Linden, New Jersey as the seventh of eight children. She attended Wheaton College, where she sang in the traveling Chapel Choir and met her future husband, Edward Thompson. After Alice's graduation from Wheaton College in 1953 with an AB in music and BME, the couple married in New Jersey and together had four children: Ruth, Mark, John and Thomas. Alice received her master's of music degree from the American Conservatory in Chicago in 1959, her CAS from Northern Illinois, and started teaching on the college level in 1965. Alice and Ed Thompson came to Judson University (then College) in 1963 to begin a music program for the college. After more than 30 years of teaching, the Thompsons retired from Judson in 1997 and Ed passed away in 2004. The campus' fine arts building was renamed the Alice & Edward Thompson Center in their honor. In her later years, she was active at Immanuel Baptist Church of Elgin. Among Alice's legacies are her books. "Do Not Go My Love" describes her years of caring for her husband. Alice Aust Thompson died on January 10, 2009.
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