The Board of Logoi Ministries has reported the death of their founder and longtime director, Les Thompson, on Tuesday.

Updated obituary with details on the memorial service

Leslie James Thompson, 80, of Miami passed away on Tuesday, August 30, 2011. A memorial service celebrating his life and honoring the Lord he loved will be held at Old Cutler Presbyterian Church on Saturday, September 3 at 2:00 pm

Leading the service and preaching will be the Senior Pastor of Old Cutler (where the Thompson family has been worshipping), Teaching Elder Stephen Clark. Teaching Elder Craig Branson, Executive Minister of the church will be assisting. Those speaking during the service will be Les’s sons and grandchildren, as well as Pastor Martin N. Añorga, a well known Cuban pastor now resideding in Miami and Joe Lynn, Chairman of the Board of LOGOI ministries.

Visitation will follow the service in the church fellowship hall.

Leslie, the son of Elmer Thompson and Evelyn McElheran, was born in Placetas, Cuba on January 12, 1931. He was the second of six children born to missionary parents. Following high school and Bible college at Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Alberta, Leslie returned to Cuba to serve as a missionary with the West Indies Mission. He married Mary Louise Doty, who died in 1959, leaving him with three sons: Kenneth, Daniel and Gregg. In 1961 Leslie married Carolyn Backlund and moved his new wife and his three sons to San Jose, Costa Rica. A fourth son, Edward, was born in 1962 in San Jose. Les and Carolyn celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on August 19, thanking God for fifty wonderful years together.

During his time in Costa Rica, Leslie’s passion for training pastors began to deepen and the ministry that became LOGOI, Inc. began to form. The ministry, eventually located in Miami, allowed Les to travel all over Central and South America to help, train, equip and encourage pastors from a wide variety of denominations. The joy of his life was teaching God’s Word. Traveling widely, he taught thousands of pastors, wrote many books and articles for pastors and church leaders, and provided leadership for LOGOI, Inc. Les was awarded a Ph. D. from the University of Wales, Bangor Wales, UK in 2006 after successfully defending a dissertation on the history of Missions in Colombia, South America. His final book, Letters to Carlos, was completed just prior to his hospitalization and will be published in Spanish and English in the near future.

Leslie is survived by his wife, Carolyn; sons Kenneth and wife Kim of Atlanta, GA; Daniel and wife Margaret of Titusville, FL; Gregg and wife Beverly of Macon, GA; Edward and wife Jennifer of Miami, FL; and grandchildren Mary, Benjamin, Nathan, Carolyn, Daniel, Dargan, William, Rebecca, Jessica, Robert, Jonathan, Matthew, Abigail, and David. He is also survived by brothers Allen and Paul Thompson, and sisters Edna Harms, Grace Lehman and Carolyn Ayers.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to LOGOI, Inc (14540 SW 136 Street, Miami, FL 33186) or online at www.logoi.org. The family wishes to thank the many loving friends who visited Les in the hospital and nursing home, and those who prayed faithfully for him during his declining days. Rejoice with us that Les is finally home with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Previous story posted on Wednesday follows (contains additional information)

Les was born in Placetas, Cuba, on January 12, 1931, and was ordained in 1953. After preaching controversial messages about Christ and communism, he was forced to leave the island of Cuba, which allowed him to start his ministry in Latin America with the founding of LOGOI Ministries, FLET (one of the first long-distance theological universities) and the Guía Pastoral. There are thousands—from Argentina to Mexico—whom Thompson’s ministry has helped, which is why he will be remembered as the “Pastor who loved pastors.”

His extensive ministry continues now under the direction of his son, Ed Thompson, who continues to promote the training of Hispanic pastors and Christian leaders in the Western Hemisphere and beyond.

Our humble and loving leader has left a legacy of 14 books, hundreds of articles, sermons and lessons he authored, which are available in the vast virtual library at LOGOI.org.

Les attended Prairie Bible Institute near Calgary, Alberta, Canada and received a PhD from the University of Wales. After serving as a missionary in Costa Rica and as an assistant at Key Biscayne PC, he was ordained by Everglades Presbytery of the PCUS in 1971 and served as Pastor of the Lejeune PC in Miami until 1974, at which time he left the pastorate to start LOGOI Ministries.

He was elected president of the first Latin American Congress in the US in 1970. He received many rewards including the EPA Golden Medallion Award for Mas Gue Maravilloso in 2001

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Carolyn and their sons Ken, Daniel, Greg and Ed; and 14 grandchildren. Ken is a PCA Pastor serving as Administrator of International Church Planting Center; Dan is a PCA Pastor in Titusville, Florida, and his brother, Allen is a PCA Teaching Elder who was a long time Mission to North America staff member who retired as President of the International Church Planting Center in 2006

No funeral arrangements have been released at the time of publication. We will update this story when they become available.