Gene "Junior" Thompson

Gene "Junior" Thompson of Scottsdale passed away On August 24, 2006. Funeral services and burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. at Green Acres Cemetery in Scottsdale on Tuesday, August 29, 2006. He was born on June 7, 1917, in Latham, IL to Earl and Grace Thompson. Gene is survived by his daughter, Pat DeMar; Husband Lou; granddaughter Kristy Kollman, husband David and their children, great granddaughters Kimberly and Geena; grandson Vince DeMar, wife Stephanie; and his brother Robert, wife Jane. He was preceded in death on December 30, 2005, by his loving wife, Dorothy, to whom he was married for 66 years. He was a kind human being and a baseball purist in the truest sense and will be missed by all of those who were fortunate enough to be a member of his family and his long list of friends. Donations may be made in Gene's memory to Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation, 9655 Wilshire Boulevard, Ste. 108, Beverly Hills, California, 90212. He retired from professional baseball in the fall of 2005 after seventy one years as a player, coach and scout. Gene was known as "Junior" during his days as a major league player, and called "Swede" by his friends and associates after his playing days. At the age of 17, he started his professional baseball career in the Cincinnati Reds farm system in the spring of 1935. The Reds won the pennant in 1939 and Gene started the third game of the World Series against the New York Yankees. In 1940 Gene won 16 games, and the Reds again won the pennant and then the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. In 1952 Gene became a major league scout for the New York Giants, and continued his scouting until his retirement in the fall, 2005. He spent most of the years as a scout for the Giants, but did scout for the Chicago Cubs from 1979-1982 and the Cleveland Indians in 1995. The last nine years he scouted for the San Diego Padre organization. In 1989, Gene was selected by his scouting peers as the West Coast Scout of the Year.