text: Thompson was hospitalized and her family appealed for financial help in late August 1983. By September, the family had collected $35,000 in donations to pay for her medical care. Thompson died of "stroke, cancer and heart problems" at Scotts Valley, California, on September 16, 1983, at age 80. She was buried in Lakewood Memorial Park, in Hughson, California, and her gravestone reads: "FLORENCE LEONA THOMPSON Migrant Mother – A Legend of the Strength of American Motherhood."
  In a 2008 interview with CNN, one of Thompson's daughters, Katherine McIntosh, recalled her mother as a "very strong lady", and "the backbone of our family". She said: "We never had a lot, but she always made sure we had something. She didn't eat sometimes, but she made sure us children ate. That's one thing she did do." A son, Troy Owens, said that more than 2,000 letters received along with donations for his mother's medical fund led to a re-appraisal of the photo: "For Mama and us, the photo had always been a bit of [a] curse. After all those letters came in, I think it gave us a sense of pride."
  Other six photographs
  Lange took seven photos that day, the last being Migrant Mother. The following are the six other photos: