Terry L. Hampton, 69 of Coldwater, formerly Burlington, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family Friday, September 6, 2019.
A memorial service celebrating the life of Terry will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday, September 14, 2019 at Lighthouse Funeral & Cremation in Union City.
A gathering of family and friends will take place Friday, September 13, 2019 from 5-8 PM at Lighthouse Funeral & Cremation.
Terry was born on September 18, 1949 to Willard and Dorothy (Hoff) Hampton in Battle Creek.
He graduated from Tekonsha High School with the Class of 1968. He then attended college at Kellogg Community College, ITT Tech, and Indiana University – Purdue University in Ft. Wayne where he studied architecture.
As a young man he worked for Vincent’s Paint Shop in Tekonsha. Painting carousel horses for a traveling carnival led to working with game & food operations on the road. Eventually, Terry’s innovative mind & entrepreneurial spirit birthed Hampton Company, building electronic group race games for carnivals and amusement parks.
His company shipped equipment all over the U.S as well as other countries such as Mexico, Israel, Egypt, China, Iceland, and Japan. His equipment has been installed in many well-known parks and attractions such as Disney World, Sea World, Dolly Wood, Circus Circus and Treasure Island Casino (Las Vegas).
In 1984 he acquired Douglas Corporation (machine shop) in Tekonsha which he ran along with his two brothers.
On March 23, 1974 he married Peggy Groholske. They were married for 17 years and had four children: Tara, Travis, Trevor and Troy. He then met his life partner of 29 years, Karmen Foster.
Terry enjoyed vacationing with friends and family in Colorado and Grand Cayman, hunting, fishing, inventing/designing/drawing/sculpting, building his businesses, and spending time at his farm on Vincent Lake.
Surviving are his life partner Karmen Foster of Coldwater; children, Tara Hampton of Kalamazoo, Travis (Alysa) Hampton of Coldwater, Trevor (Chelsey McConn) Hampton of Tekonsha, Troy (Cassie) Hampton of Coldwater, Dylan (Jodi) Foster of Coldwater and Brooke Foster of Coldwater; 9 grandchildren (Courtney, Jayla, Dracyn, Chloe, Olivia, Gavin, Camrynn, Claire and Jackson), brothers, Tom (Linda) Hampton of Tekonsha, Richard (Cathy) Hampton of Marshall, sister Debbie (Jeff) Blair of Eagle River, Alaska, and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Memorial contributions may be made to Lighthouse Funeral & Cremation and will be directed to the Lewy Body Dementia Association.
