Memorable Manitobans: Ronald Thornton Frederick Thompson (1906-1984)

Educator.

Born at Edmonton, Alberta on 24 November 1906, son of Frank Wilmington Thompson and Mabel Summerhayes, he came to Manitoba at an early age and was educated at Luxton School and Linwood School. He attended St. John’s College for one year, went to Normal School, took a BA degree at the University of Manitoba in 1932 and a MEd degree in 1949. He also did postgraduate studies at the University of Chicago.

He spent 26 years in the Winnipeg School Division, serving as a teacher, Vice-Principal and Principal, including terms at Robert H. Smith School (1932-1938), Kelvin High School (1946-1950), Lord Roberts School (1950-1952), Riverview School (1952-1955) and Luxton School (1955-1956). He participated in a teacher exchange in South Africa in 1938 to 1939, and served four years, 1942 to 1946, as a Captain in the Canadian Army. In 1956, he moved to the St. James School Division to become its Superintendent. Ten years later, he resigned the position to become an Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He was President of the Manitoba Educational Association (1961-1962).

On 17 April 1933, he married Elsie Florentine Anderson (1906-1986) and they had two children.

He retired to Victoria, British Columbia in 1968 and died there on 12 February 1984.

His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:

Deer Lodge Through the Century
MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1965-66 Season

Sources:

Marriage registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“7 city schools to change heads,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 May 1952, page 1.

The History of the Manitoba Educational Association by Ernest Butterworth, MEd thesis, Faculty of Graduate Study and Research, University of Manitoba, 1965.

“St. James Superintendent Takes U of A Professorship,” Winnipeg Tribune, 29 December 1966. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B14, page 150]

Death registration, British Columbia Vital Statistics.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 29 June 1984, page 48.

Tales of a Trustee (Aidan H. Conklin) by Anita E. Schmidt, 1985, Winnipeg: The Christian Press, pages 63-64.

Obituary [Elsie F. Thompson], Winnipeg Free Press, 31 July 1986, page 48.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 8 April 2020

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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