Kenneth Reid MacKenzie Thompson

Kenneth Reid MacKenzie Thompson, 83, of Corvallis, OR, died at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center on May 18, 2022, surrounded by loving family. Ken was born July 31, 1938, in Chicago, IL. He was the first of four sons born to the late Dr. Kenneth Reid McKerroll Thompson and Helen Hevron Thompson.
Raised in the South Side neighborhood of Beverly, Ken graduated from Morgan Park High School in 1956 and received his BS from the University of Wisconsin in 1962. He served two years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. After earning a JD from Harvard Law School in 1965, Ken joined the Chicago law firm, Chapman & Cutler, where he worked his entire 38-year career specializing in national and international corporate finance.
All his life, Ken was engaged with people and issues around him. When protesters were arrested during the infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention, he headed to the jailhouse: "they're going to need lawyers." For more than 25 years, Ken shared his energy and compassion on the Council of the James R. Jordan Boys & Girls Club, including several years as chair, helping raise funds for this family center on the near West side.
Ken met his love and partner, Joan Hutcheson, at a friend's party in Chicago. They married in 1968, embarking on an adventure together that lasted 54 years. They raised four children in a vintage, 19th-century home in Lake Forest, IL, advertised as "needing work." So Ken became a self-taught carpenter, plumber, and electrician, unafraid of any job, renovating their suburban home. He put those skills to use on the second home he and Joan built on the beach near Manistee, MI, where they cherished time with family and friends across decades. The wooden boat he was building, Dancing Backwards, will be launched this summer.
He was an adventurous traveler: backpacking trips in the Appalachians and Rockies instilled in his family a deep love of the outdoors; self-guided cycling trips with friends; and, with Joan, explorations of many unfamiliar cultures of the Far East.
A sports enthusiast all his life, Ken enjoyed most any athletic endeavor, as participant and fan. He cheered on kids and grandkids, and avidly followed the Wisconsin Badgers and Chicago's Bears, White Sox, and Bulls.
Ken saw the good in those around him, nurturing a can-do attitude of possibility and joy. He embraced opportunities with his signature wit and optimism, and when encountered with life's unexpected challenges, he met them with tenacity, good humor, and grace. He built strong, life-long relationships and will be dearly missed by his many friends.
He is survived by his wife, Joan Hutcheson Thompson of Corvallis, OR; son Allen (Pamela) Thompson of Corvallis, OR; twin daughters, Elizabeth (Daniel) Beckley of Evergreen, CO, and Carrington Thompson of Wilmington, IL; son Robert (Sarah) Thompson of Huntington, VT; grandchildren Abraham and Annabelle Thompson, Theodore and Katherine Beckley, and Rosemary and Norah Thompson; brothers Bruce Thompson (Philip Rogers) of Pine Mountain, GA, and John (Debra Palmizio) Thompson of North Chelmsford, MA; and nephew Daniel Thompson of North Chelmsford, MA. He was preceded in death by his parents, and brother Robert A. Thompson.
A memorial in Chicago is being planned for the fall. Contributions may be made in memory of Ken to Trinity Foundation, which supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, 301 Veterans Parkway, New Lenox, IL 60451, https://www.trinityservices.org/donate.