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William Lay Thompson

1930 - 2016

BORN

1930

DIED

2016

William Thompson Obituary

THOMPSON

WILLIAM LAY February 16, 1930-November 27, 2016 William was born in Austin, Texas to Dora (Lay) Thompson and William Henry Thompson. He earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Zoology at the University of Texas, Austin. The University of California, Berkeley, granted him a Doctorate in Zoology. He taught at Wayne State University in the Department of Biology from 1959 to 1993. He retired as Professor Emeritus. He also taught classes on penguins and big cats at the Detroit Zoo. Field research was done in Texas, Calif., Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas, Utah, Alaska and Mexico. He was an officer in the Wayne State Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the Detroit Audubon Society, and the Michigan Audubon Society. He loved listening to classical music especially opera,and sang in various choirs and musical productions. He read avidly. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Retta (nee Maninger). Beloved father of Stephen (Carol), Catherine (Bruce) Rossler and Mark (Sharleen). Grandfather of Timothy, Deborah (Adel) Brent, Cody, Julian and Maya, Great-grandfather of Emmy. A Memorial will be held at 11:00 a.m. on December 28th at Rosedale Gardens Presbyterian Church 9601 Hubbard Avenue, Livonia MI 48150

Published by The Detroit News & Detroit Free Press on Dec. 11, 2016.
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Memorial Events
for William Thompson

Dec

28

Memorial service

11:00 a.m.

Rosedale Gardens Presbyterian Church

9601 Hubbard Avenue, Livonia , MI

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