John H. Thompson

Thompson pioneered as editor

Retiree was Journal's first ombudsman

By BRUCE MURPHY
John H. (Jack) Thompson, a trail-blazing editor for The Milwaukee Journal and one of the most beloved members of the Milwaukee journalistic community, died Friday of a lung infection at age 95.

"He was a renaissance man. He could do everything," said Howard Fibich, a retired Journal editor.

Thompson ended his career as the first reader contact editor, or ombudsman, for The Journal, serving from 1972 to his retirement in 1974.

"He was among the first ombudsmen in the country," Fibich noted. "He had to create that role from scratch for The Journal."

After five years as a reporter for the Watertown Daily Times in New York, Thompson joined the state desk of The Journal in 1936, where he soon rose to state editor. Over his 38 years with The Journal, he served successively as head of the "war desk" during World War II, New York Bureau manager, editor of the Sunday editorial section and then editorial writer before becoming the first editor of the new Accent on the News section in 1966.

Thompson also volunteered for World War II duty, serving two years in the Navy on an amphibious command ship during the invasions of Leyte and Okinawa.

"He said he didn't want to miss the experience," said his wife, Lois Thompson.

Thompson was a history buff, and the Sunday editorial section he edited stood out for its analysis of international events, said retired Journal editor Richard Leonard.

"We'd call it the Jack Thompson section," said Leonard. "One of the reasons The Journal got rated as a top 10 newspaper back then was because of its international coverage."

Thompson's friendly, curious style made him a favorite in the newsroom.

"I never saw him when he wasn't smiling," Leonard said. "He just exuded good will and inspired it from others."

Thompson's rapport with his peers served him well as ombudsman, a role in which he listened to reader complaints, then interviewed reporters and editors to determine if the newspaper's coverage had erred in any way.

"He had a gentle but determined approach," Fibich noted.

And his vast experience helped him accurately assess where something might have gone wrong.

"He had a grasp of everything that went on at the newspaper because he had worked in every part of it," Fibich said.

Thompson's retirement was extraordinarily active.

"He may have been the youngest 95-year-old in history," said Mike Drew, longtime entertainment writer for The Journal and the Journal Sentinel. "I told him he was my model in retirement. I think everybody told him that."

Thompson organized a group of Journal alumni, put together quarterly luncheons for the group, expanded it to include Milwaukee Sentinel alumni after that paper merged with The Journal and edited a newsletter that kept track of all the comings and goings of alumni. He continued handling these duties until his recent hospitalization.

"He was this amazing one-man alumni coordinator," said Sig Gissler, a retired Journal editor and now a Columbia University professor who administers the Pulitzer Prizes. "He was sort of the glue that kept the alumni together."

Thompson also took history and computer courses at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; helped develop courses for the UWM Guild for Learning in Retirement and served as editor of its newsletter; served on the board of the Artist Series at the Pabst; and attended plays, concerts and musicals.

A Wausau native, Thompson was married for 43 years to Helen Ann (Mayer) Thompson, who died in 1981. In 1983 he married the former Lois Wolfender.

Lois Thompson said she met Jack on a group tour to New York to see some Broadway plays.

"We hit it off right away," she said. "Who wouldn't with Jack?"

For all of Thompson's accomplishments, it is his gregarious, kind and good-humored personality that everyone remembers.

"I saw him in the hospital and he was making jokes about Journal alumni through his oxygen mask," Drew said. "And giving me two thumbs up every few minutes."

Thompson is survived by his wife Lois; his only child, Jill Becker; two grandchildren, a great-grandchild and many admirers. The funeral will be at Feerick Funeral Home, 2025 E. Capitol Drive, Shorewood, at a day and time to be announced later.

From the Jan. 1, 2005, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel