142. Rita Claire Jackson (James Francis Jackson , Sarah Cavanaugh , John )
Rita married 2 William Jerome Thompson 1 30 Jun 1946 in St. Michael's RC Church - Frostburg, Md.. William was born 3 7 Jun 1918 in Frostburg, Allegany Co., Md.. He died 3 28 May 1996 in Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pa.. He was buried 3 31 May 1996 in Resurrection Cemetery - Harrisburg, Pa.. William was buried 4 in World War II veteran. He was employed 5 as in Owned a Trophy Business. He was baptized 16 Jun 1918 in By Rev. J. J. Donlow at St. Michael's. He joined religion in Roman Catholic.
1 _MDCL No Heart disease, High blood pressure, No Stroke, Cancer, No Addictions, No Alzheimer's, No Mental illness, No Diabetes
2 SOUR S1583
3 DATA
4 TEXT Date of Import: Apr 23, 2000
Bill was delivered by Dr. J. L. Conroy, presumably at home. Theaddress taken from a "Baby's Record" was 96 Mechanic Street, Frostburg,MD. He was baptized by Rev. J.J. Donlow at St. Michael's Church on June16, 1918.
Not a lot is known of Bill's childhood, but his brother remembersone anecdote. When he was eleven or twelve, he was given a can of blackpaint by his Aunt Lizzie (Elizabeth Johns) for use on the iron fencearound the family plot at the Percy Cemetery. After completing thistask, he still had paint in the can. So, he proceeded to paint thetombstones. As a result, he wasn't real popular with anybody and it tookyears for the paint to wear off.
His brother also remembers: "On our street (Ormand) there were lotsof kids. My older brother was on a neighborhood football team. Theywere pretty good, but not great. One day, they were playing somebody andBill had to take me to the game. Bill was a halfback and supposed to bepretty good. They made me the time keeper and told me to blow thewhistle after 15 minutes, for each quarter. Bill called me aside andtold me if the other team was close to scoring, to blow the whistleearly. If his team was going to score, not to blow the whistle until hehad scored. I got things messed up; blew the whistle at the wrong timeand Bill's team lost. He knocked the shit out of me when we got home."
Bill graduated from the LaSalle Institute in Cumberland, Md in Juneof 1937. He didn't attend the graduation ceremony to receive his diplomaas his father died the same month and he was busy liquidating the familybusiness. It was a Studebaker garage in Cumberland, Md. He went toWashington, D.C. and got a job as a "soda jerk" in Peoples Drug store.He was fired from that position after brawling with an overbearingsupervisor, behind the counter, in plain view of the patrons. He livedwith his aunt Eleanor (Spates). He later secured a job with theAgriculture Department. and worked there for several years. He latertransferred to the Maritime Commission. In 1942 he entered the Army. Heserved in the Medical Corp and was attached to General Hospital inEngland.
After the surrender of Germany, he returned to America aboard theHMS Queen Mary. If the war with Japan had lasted much longer, he wouldhave been assigned to the Pacific Theater of Operations. While still inthe military, he met Rita Jackson and they became engaged. When the warended, he separated from the Army with the rank of Staff Sergeant. Uponreturning to civilian life; Bill and Rita were married and moved toWashington, D.C., where he resumed working for the federal government.Eventually, he resigned and became a sales representative for severaldifferent companies, including a cosmetics firm. He became a salesrepresentative for the Piels Brewing Co. and was transferred toHarrisburg, Pa. in 1950.
He remained in the beer business and later worked for Goebels,Ballantine and Carlings (in that order). While working for Carlings, hewas promoted to District Manager of Sales for Western Pennsylvania.Since he lived in the South Central region of the state, this entailedmuch driving and time away from home. After a few years, he resigned andtook over the Middletown, Pa. newspaper delivery franchise for theHarrisburg Patriot-News. In 1964, realizing there was little future inthis endeavor, he bought an interest in a trophy business with twofriends: Bob Paul (a local businessman) and Jim Sunday (a local TV/RadioNews Personality). They had been running it out of their homes, andinitially, Bill had the entire inventory and all equipment in a corner ofhis basement. He was to find office space and run the day to dayoperation of the business.
Bill found a small showroom, to rent, on the corner of 28th andWalnut Streets, located in the Borough of Penbrook, where he opened the"Harrisburg Awards Shop". He shared space with first a small restaurantand then a hobby store. Within a year, he bought out his partners. Acouple of years later he took over the entire first floor of the buildingand, for a time, continued to deal in some of the hobby items. Thisincluded running a slot car racetrack. The awards business continued togrow and eventually the hobby aspect was dropped. In 1972, he purchaseda building, made improvements and moved the business, down the block, to2701 Walnut Street. The building had been used as a boarding house andhe continued to rent rooms to single men for several years. In 1981, heincorporated the business and renamed it Harrisburg, Awards, Inc. Amongothers, he employed his son Bob, who worked part-time during his schoolyears and full-time thereafter. Both daughters, Marla and Peggy, alsohelped at times. In 1979, he was named the "Eastern US Trophy Dealer ofthe Year" for his involvement with the Trophy Dealers of America (TDA)which is now known as the Awards and Recognition Association (ARA). Bobcontinues to operate the family business started by "Honest Bill", withhis sisters still involved.
Bill was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Legion of Mary and theAmerican Legion. He was also a member of the Penbrook Lions Club and wasa past president of that organization. He was involved in his communityas a member and two time president of the Lenker Manor Civic Association(for the residential development in which he and his family lived). Heran for councilman of the 4th Ward, as a Democrat, where he gave thelocal Republican incumbent a run for his money by visiting every home inthe ward. He was appointed to and served on the Swatara Township SewerAuthority for many years. In later years, he changed his partyaffiliation to Republican.
In 1976, Bill and Rita purchased a trailer, located in what wasknown as Log Cabin Hill, north of Lewes and Rehoboth, DE. In 1981, theysold that and purchased another in the Fieldwood development, located at2040 Ramblewood Drive, between Lewes and Rehoboth. They made manychanges and additions. Due to these improvements, it went from beingcalled a trailer to the "beach house"; a distinction that meant much tothem. Rita and Bill spent many weekends there; shopping, relaxing,visiting with friends, swimming and sunbathing at Cape Henlopen StatePark. It was always open to family and friends and Bill treasured histime there. Even after cancer had incapacitated him, he made three tripswith his family to visit and enjoy the view at "The Point" (a place hedearly loved), in the state park where the road ends in a small parkingarea, overlooking the Delaware Bay and Cape May Ferry site, near theCoast Guard weather station.
Bill passed away at home, like his father, three weeks before his50th Wedding Anniversary to Rita could be realized. He had a great senseof humor and was devoted to his family. He brought home flowers to Rita,almost every week. He was a very proud man with a sense of determinationabout whatever he attempted. He outlived the doctors' prediction of hisdeath by 6 to 8 months. The one singular trademark that everyoneremembered about him, was his distinctive laugh.Headline: William J. Thompson
Publication Date: May 29, 1996
Source: The Evening News Harrisburg
Page: B2
Subjects: OBITUARY
Region: Pennsylvania
Obituary: William J. Thompson, 77, of Harrisburg, died Tuesday at home.
He was owner/operator of Harrisburg Awards Inc., Penbrook. He was aformer member of the Swatara Twp. sewer authority, an Army veteran ofWorld War II, a member of St. Catherine Laboure Catholic Church, LawntonAmerican Legion, DAV, Knights of Columbus Holy Rosary Council 869, BishopJ.W. Shanahan Assembly, Lenker Manor Civic Association, Wilhelm YouthClub and past president of Penbrook Lions Club.
Surviving are his wife, Rita M. Jackson Thompson; a son, Robert J.
of Harrisburg; two daughters, Marla A. Thompson of Harrisburg andMargaret T. Carignan of Etters; a brother, James C. of Rockville, Md.;and four grandchildren. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m.Friday at his church. Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery.
Viewing will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday with the rosary said at 8p.m. and 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday at Neill Funeral Home, Paxtang,Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Central Pennsylvania,3605 Vartan Way, Harrisburg 17110.
They had the following children:
+ 189 M i Robert Jerome Thompson 190 F ii Marla Ann Thompson + 191 F iii Margaret Thompson