Ben Hiner Tompkins

FORT WORTH - Ben Hiner Tompkins passed away at his home in Fort Worth, Texas April 28, 2023, surrounded by his children, Rebecca Tripp, Bob Tompkins, Sandy Tompkins, and Luanne Tompkins. He was married to Shirley Tompkins for 43 years until her passing in 2011, and his stepchildren, are Anne Temple, David Jose, Laura Chapman, and John Jose.
Graveside: 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at Greenwood Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Enhabit Home Health & Hospice:
Mail: Enhabit Home Health & Hospice, Atten: Enhabit Cares, 6688 N. Central Expy., Suite 1300, Dallas, Texas 75206
Website: https://encompasscares.org/?page_id=51
Phone: 214-239-6500
Ben Tompkins was born in Fort Worth Oct. 4, 1929. He grew up there and became a starter on both the football team and the baseball team at Fort Worth Polytechnic High School. He is a former college and professional athlete and NFL referee.
In 1949, at the University of Texas, Tompkins was the back-up quarterback, but the next year he became the team's starting quarterback and took over as kicker as well. Later in the season, Texas upset #1 SMU, the first defeat of a #1 ranked team in school history (and a feat only repeated four times since). They won the conference title, a trip to the Cotton Bowl and a #3 ranking in the AP Poll (#2 in the coaches). They were ranked behind #2 Army who would lose their final game to Navy after the last ranking was issued and #1 Oklahoma who would lose to Kentucky in the Sugar Bowl. But Texas also lost their bowl game, 14-20, to #4 Tennessee. For his play, Tompkins led the Longhorns in passing yards and total offense and was selected as an Honorable Mention to the 1950 All-Southwest Conference team.
He also played baseball while at Texas and was on the first back-to-back College World Series championship teams in history, winning two conference and national championships in two years. Though he didn't play enough in 1949 to letter, in 1950 he was a starter who was selected to the All-Southwest conference team at third base. He also played shortstop and second base.
In 1951, he was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies with the intention of playing for their Wilmington, Del., club in the Class B interstate league, but two days later he got a draft notice and spent the next two years in the service, mostly playing baseball. When his military obligation was completed, he returned to the Phillies organization and played second base for six years in their farm system, landing on 5 different teams. In 1953, he was an all-star, Rookie of the year and MVP for the Class B III-League Terre Haute Phillies. The next year, he moved up to the Class-A Schenectady Blue Jays and then later in the year to the AAA Syracuse Chiefs, with which he played in the 1954 Little World Series. He stayed with Syracuse for four more years, even after they moved to Miami in 1956 where one of his teammates was a 50-year-old Satchel Paige. Tompkins spent his last season as a player at the Class A Asheville Tourists and then the AA Memphis Chickasaws. In 1956, with the Marlins, Tompkins played in the first, and one of the only, baseball games at Miami's Orange Bowl stadium. He hit the first and only home run ever hit at the Orange Bowl.
Tompkins left Texas before graduating but finished his undergraduate work at Texas Wesleyan by taking classes in the summer. In 1962, following the end of his football coaching career, he started law school at SMU, from which he graduated in 1966. After getting his law degree and passing the bar that same year, he went to work as a prosecutor in the district attorney's office in Fort Worth until 1969.
By 1969, he was officiating football games in the Missouri Valley Conference, where the pass-oriented offense was closer to the pro game. In 1971, he was called up to the NFL where he was a back judge (now field judge) for 20 years, officiating two Super Bowls, XIV and XVIII. He retired from officiating in 1991. For most of his officiating career, he wore uniform number 52 and was easily distinguishable by the wire-rimmed eyeglasses he wore.
As an attorney, he did criminal defense work with a partner and as a solo practitioner until 1983. At that point he started the firm Reynolds and Tompkins and did insurance defense work with them and others for the next nine years before moving over to the plaintiff's side with Bailey, Galyen, and Gold. After he retired as an attorney, he continued to do pro bono work for family and friends.
He was a member of First United Methodist Church of Forth Worth for over 50 years.