Bill Thompson

Who would have thought that someone who hardly talked when he went out on the town or when he had people over, would have such a story. I had no clue that much has happened in Bill Thompson’s life. Sometimes the quiet ones have the most interesting stories and experiences in life, and my grandpa is one of those people.

In December 1926, in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, Bill Thompson was born. His father, Charles, was editor of the local newspaper and his mother, Ruth, also worked there as a copy editor. His parents were very local, hometown people and loved everyone. He was the younger of two boys. His older brother, Bob, later became the editor of the same newspaper. The only person in the family who did not go into the newspaper business was Bill.

He lived during the Great Depression. What he remembers most about that time is that the only jobs available were through the WPA. He saw the heartache and suffering many people had gone through trying to keep their families healthy and fed. When he was nine, he was a paper carrier until he was 15. He really did not like working at the newspaper, even though his father wanted him to get into the business with him. He worked while he was in high school for an ice delivery business. He carried large blocks of ice into homes for their iceboxes. He clerked in a clothing store, and one summer, he did all of the accounting and bookkeeping for a local store. After graduating from high school at the age of 17, he got a scholarship to play football at the University of Illinois. “I only weighed 180 pounds, so I didn’t last very long,” recalled Bill. To earn money, he worked as a waiter for a fraternity on campus. After one semester of getting beaten up on the football field, he turned 18 and decided to enlist into the Navy. During this time, the United States was involved in World War II.

He was in boot camp in Gulf Point, Mississippi, and was trained as a radio operator. While he was in his sixteenth week out of twenty weeks of boot camp, the war had ended. He was so good at his Morse Code and typing skills that the Navy sent him to Nashville, Tennessee, and then to New Orleans, Louisiana, to help train other recruits. He left the service on July, 1946, and joined the U.S. Reserves, which now is something that he thinks was the craziest thing he has ever done, but it ended up working out. In the fall of 1946, he went to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. He majored in Business and Economics. He played football for SIU and lettered two years. After he graduated, he became an insurance salesman. “Really not destined to be an insurance agent,” recalled Bill. He really did not enjoy his job at all. In November of 1950, the Navy called him back to fight in the Korean War.

He was put on a transportation ship to Sasebo, Japan. While they were at sea, they ran into a typhoon and some of the servicemen died. He spent most of his time in sick bay. When he finally arrived in Sasebo, Japan, he was assigned to the USS Layte, which was an aircraft carrier. He was the assistant to the captain of the ship, mostly because of his typing skills. Planes from the ship flew into battle. Later on, the ship got orders to return to the United States to be dry docked for repairs in Norfolk, Virginia, which was a Navy base on the Atlantic side. Since they were on the Pacific side, they had to travel through the Panama Canal. After that, they made a stop at Guantanamo Bay, which was a naval base at that time. Once they were in Virginia and the ship was repaired, they set sail to the Mediterranean Sea. They visited many ports of call like Crete and Egypt. When he wasn’t visiting countries, he played basketball on the deck. The ship returned to the United States and he was discharged in 1952. He was offered a job in the Navy as a commissioner’s officer or supplies officer, but neither one of those jobs appealed to him.

Then, he decided he wanted to be a teacher and a coach, so he went back to SIU and took education courses. Bill went to work at Carbondale High School teaching business and accounting. He was also the assistant coach for football, basketball and track. After a few years, he took on a job teaching at a community college in Mt. Vernon, his hometown. In August, 1953, a friend introduced him to his friend, Alma, from Tucson, Arizona. She was in town visiting for a few days. They began writing letters and in October, he went out to Arizona and asked her to marry him. They were married on December 28, 1953, and had two daughters, Libby and Sally. Bill and Alma have been married for 55 years. He feels that meeting his wife was the best thing that ever happened to him. She stabilized his life and gave him what he wanted in life, a family.

In 1963, he and his family moved to Carbondale, Illinois. Bill taught classes while working on his PhD in Economics at SIU. Four years later, in 1967, he received his PhD in Economics and was offered a job at Central Missouri State College in Warrensburg, Missouri. He taught Economics for 23 years before retiring in 1991. He taught for 39 years and was 64 years when he retired. “My life hasn’t been all that exciting,” this coming from a man who’s traveled around the world, been in two wars, gone to three major colleges, taught at two colleges, and still manages to play golf and win tournaments at the age of 82. Who would have thought such a quiet man would have such a wonderful life.