Donald G. Thomson

1936 - 2021

THOMSON, Donald G. November 11, 1936 - May 22, 2021 Don passed away peacefully at Veterans Memorial Lodge with family by his side. Don was born in Vancouver, BC, and grew up in North Vancouver. As a member of the Navy Cadets, he played the drums in the band during his high school years. After high school, he entered the first class of HMCS Venture for officer training. On his record of training with the Royal Canadian Navy, at the age of 21, he is described as being "keen and enthusiastic" which epitomized how he lived his whole life. His time in the Navy included service on HMCS Stettler and HMCS Ontario, and becoming a weapons officer. He later taught terrestrial navigation to civilians. He received a BSc in electrical engineering from Queens University in 1968 and obtained his P.Eng. Don joined Hewlett Packard in sales at a time when a computer filled a large room and required punched cards. A top salesman for HP, he worked in Vancouver and Seattle and, in 1981, moved to Hong Kong as sales manager for Asia. He later worked for other companies as a sales consultant. He moved to Victoria in 1990 where his two daughters were living. He started his own company, Mardon, which helped various companies with their sales strategy. He wrote the best-selling book "Keeping the Funnel Full" on the selling process and gave seminars on the topic. Full of energy and enthusiasm as well as a goal-setter, he was working and travelling until his late 70s when he started showing symptoms of Parkinson's disease. One of his life-long interests was being a member of a pipe band. Don played the snare drum and bass drum in various pipe bands including the Greater Victoria Police Pipe Band. Another passion was sailing and so he acquired the 30-foot sailboat "Said Vessel" to embark on more adventures. Always active, Don loved to swim, ski, jog, hike, ride horses and golf. He was a member of the Royal Colwood Golf Club, playing regularly with good friends. An amateur historian of sorts, he studied the two World Wars and could produce details of battles or personalities instantly. It was somehow fitting he was born on November 11 and his birthday was always a holiday. Don had a spark and an infectious laugh. Very social, he would quickly find a point of connection, a mutual experience or contact, with people he would meet-sometimes when he was on the other side of the world. He inspired family members of various generations with his sense of adventure. Don is survived by his daughters Suzanne (Rob) Bowen and Michelle (Gordon) van den Broek; companion Valerie Armstrong; stepdaughter Dee Schwartz; grandchildren Jonathan, Ross, Rachel and Ryan; and brother Robert Thomson. A celebration of life will be held sometime in July or August and details will be posted at arbormemorial.ca/en/sands-colwood/obituaries/donald-george-thomson/66855. The family would love to hear your stories about Don and would especially appreciate it if you could write and send them. There may be some stories we have not yet heard! Donations can be made to Parkinson Society British Columbia (parkinson.bc.ca).