Hartwell Greene Thompson

THOMPSON, Hartwell Greene Hartwell Greene Thompson, M.D., 83, of West Hartford, died Saturday, (April 19, 2008) at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, where he had been a professor and practicing physician for the final 17 years of a distinguished career in academic medicine. Especially devoted to patient care, he took pride in the time he spent in getting to know and understand his patients as he treated them. A graduate of Westminster School, Yale University (1946), and Cornell University Medical School (1950), he served as Chairman of the University of Connecticut Medical School's Department of Neurology (1977-1984) and as President of the Association of University Professors of Neurology (1982-1984). Earlier in his career he served as founding Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Professor of Neurology at West Virginia University Medical School/Morgantown, as Associate Dean and Professor of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine/Philadelphia, as Dean and Professor of Neurology at West Virginia University Medical School/Charleston, and as Associate Professor of Neurology at University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, WI. He had been a member of the Executive Committee of the National Committee for Research in Neurological and Communicative Disorders (1977) and the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, Neurological Disorders Program Project Review Committee (1971-1974). A specialist in multiple sclerosis and Huntington's Disease, he was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. An avid reader and opera, theater, and art enthusiast, he was an active supporter of the Hartford Ballet, Hartford Stage, and Hartford Symphony. A summer resident of Madison for more than 75 years, he enjoyed the Connecticut shore and Long Island Sound. He was the oldest son of Dr. Hartwell G. Thompson, Sr., an obstetrician at Hartford Hospital, and Sigrid Marie (Johnson) Thompson. He leaves his wife of 52 years, Frances M. (Salter) Thompson; four children: Sarah S. Thompson and her husband James Kirk of Edinboro, PA; Elisabeth S. (Thompson) Griffin and her husband Daniel of North Andover, MA; Mary Greene Thompson and her husband Scott Greene of Madison, WI, and Benjamin Hartwell Thompson of Clinton; and eight grandchildren. He was predeceased by his brother, children's book author George Selden Thompson. A memorial service will be held Sunday, April 27, at 2 p.m. at the First Church of Christ Congregational, 12 South Main St., West Hartford. Memorial contributions may be made to the Hartwell G. Thompson Fund, University of Connecticut Health Center, The University of Connecticut Foundation, Inc., 10 Talcott Notch Rd., Suite 100, Farmington, CT 06032. Taylor & Modeen Funeral Home, West Hartford has care of arrangements.