William D. Thompson

THOMPSON, William David Hugh: peacefully surrounded by family on Oct 5, 2023. He is survived by Maren (nee Christensen), his wife, best friend and loving partner of 66 years. He had four children, eight living grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.

Bill Thompson was born in Regina, SA in 1931, but was soon back in Belfast, N. Ireland from whence his parents had emigrated a few years earlier. They returned to Canada in 1937, settling in Calgary where Bill attended Crescent Heights High school. He earned a degree in journalism at the University of Montana in 1956 and spent most of the next thirty years in the oil and gas, forestry and mining industries of Western Canada as a communications specialist. In 1957 he married Maren Christensen, settling in Calgary where the first two children were born. The family came to Vancouver in 1964 and Bill worked in pulp industry communications for six years before joining Placer Dome Inc. as head of Corporate Communications.

Two more babies arrived in Vancouver and in 1972 the family located in West Vancouver. Here, the children grew, graduated and married. All established their own homes and raised families in the Lower Mainland. The children, Kristin (Peter Kelly), David Thompson (Brenda Wiebe), Michael (Lynne) Thompson and Kari (Glen Garratt), were -and are – deeply loved and respected.

He took much pleasure in family gatherings where laughter, story-telling, skits and sour-note songs were regular ingredients, along with discussions on current events and politics. He enjoyed jokes, both the hearing and the telling. Through most of his life Bill enjoyed sports, joking that he was reasonably good at some of them. He played tennis into his mid-seventies.

He leaves Maren, whose steadfast strength, loyalty and love were only a few of the reasons for his long-standing and respectful references to her as “my better half”.

The family would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the many people who helped take care of Bill over these last few years. We are especially grateful to Dr. Anne Marie Thompsen, Dr. George Mak, Dr. Adam Chruscicki and the many wonderful people of the North Shore Palliative Care Team. Donations in Bill’s name can be made to BC Children’s Hospital or the charity of your choice.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Dec 3rd at St. Christopher's Church, 1068 Inglewood Ave, West Vancouver at 2:00pm