Robert Francis Thompson

Mystic - Robert Francis Thompson, 90, died on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011, at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital. He was the third of six sons born to James and Mary Thompson.

He was predeceased by his brothers, Donald Joseph, James Leonard, Carl Edward, Lawrence Henry and John McDonough Thompson.

He was born on Haley Street in Mystic on Oct. 27, 1920. He lived at Apple Rehab on Broadway, near the house where he was born.

His boyhood was spent in Mystic, Stonington and Pawcatuck. As a teenager, he traveled to Durango, Colo., to work in the Civilian Conservation Corps, and he developed a love of travel. He served in the Merchant Marine during World War II, working in the boiler room of a ship and visiting many ports, including the Persian Gulf. He worked on the railroad and at the Velvet Mill, drove a truck, picked oranges, and did lumber work. At 6 feet, 6 inches, he was nicknamed "Stretch."

Robert traveled the country and worked in a variety of occupations, including that of laborer and truck driver. He worked at various construction sites. Known for his fearless confidence, he once climbed down a well to retrieve a bundle of live dynamite. He hopped freights and hitchhiked at a time when such forms of travel were more common, covering great distances in search of work.

Bobby Thompson lived a long, colorful life with an easy smile, little stories about people and places he's been, a few tall tales, quiet faith and a shared enjoyment of a good cup of coffee. He lived the American Twentieth Century as the guy with a shovel in his hand and a poem in his heart. He sailed freighters to far-off lands, labored for the railroads, laying track and blasting rock. He was a steeplejack, truck driver and boxer. Bobby hopped freight trains all over America and could tell you about a little diner along the way, or a bridge he used to swim off of on a little stream somewhere. He would occasionally come home to Stonington for a while and maybe have dinner with one of his brothers, and then stick his thumb in the wind for another adventure. More recently than he should have, Bobby was known to celebrate the lost art of hitchhiking. As Bobby said to his brother Lennie at Lennie's funeral, we say "So long, Bobby."

Robert had been a communicant at St. Mary's Church in New Haven, where he lived before returning to Mystic. In New Haven, he often went to Claire's Corner Cornucopia, where he enjoyed the paintings and murals. An accomplished primitive artist, Robert's work was exhibited at the Groton Public Library in the 1980s. Robert composed many poems and knew many songs, which he would recite or sing for his nieces and nephews. He continued to draw and, in the last few months of his life, would repeatedly draw a picture of Jesus. He was a man of faith who often recited the prayers of his Catholic youth.

Robert is survived by his cousins, Mildred McDonough of New London and William McDonough of Waterford. He is survived also by five nieces and two nephews, Patrice Thompson of San Francisco, Cecile Thompson of Pawcatuck, Carlette Hartsough of Davis, Calif., Lauren Magruder of Portsmouth, R.I., Diane Thompson of Stonington, Curtiss Thompson of Pawcatuck, and Vincent Thompson of Waterford. He is also survived by ten grandnephews and nieces, Dr. Gabriel Loiacono of Oshkosh, Wis., Joseph Loiacono of Santa Cruz, Calif., Daniel Hartsough of Davis, Calif., Katherine Brion of Ann Arbor, Mich., Jacqueline Hartsough of Santa Barbara, Anna Thompson of Waterford, Haley Thompson of Pawcatuck, Angela Thompson of Pawcatuck, Hilary Magruder of Providence and Abigail Magruder of Boston. He is also survived by five great-grand nieces and nephews, Nicholas, Jack, and Thomas Brion and Izabella and Zita Loiacono.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 9 a.m. TODAY (Thursday, Oct. 20), at St. Michael the Archangel Church, 60 Liberty St., Pawcatuck. Burial will follow at St. Michael Cemetery, Pawcatuck. There are no calling hours.

Please visit www.mysticfuneralhome.com to leave an online expression of sympathy.