Dagmar Thompson

An artist, potter and graphic designer, Dagmar Thompson was born on November 29, 1946, and passed away at her Land Park home on January 29, 2014, after a long battle with cancer. Dagmar grew up in the Land Park area and attended Riverside Elementary and California Middle schools. She graduated from C.K. McClatchy High School in 1964 and from UC Berkeley in 1968 with a degree in political science. While at Berkeley, she was active in the Free Speech Movement, demonstrating a lifelong interest in politics that would later shape her artistic career. After graduation, Dagmar married William Jordan and then lived in Texas and Germany, where her husband served in the U.S. Army. The couple returned to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971, where she received a teaching credential from Dominican University in San Rafael and later taught elementary school in San Francisco and Marin County. She also operated an art gallery in Corte Madera. After the couple divorced, Dagmar returned to Sacramento. Dagmar was the youngest of three children of Harlan and Helen Thompson, a prominent Sacramento Democratic family. Her father was one of the first two United States Attorneys in Sacramento. Her paternal grandfather - Rolfe Lyon Thompson III - was an appellate court judge who was descended from former U.S. Vice President Elbridge Gerry, for whom the practice of "gerrymandering" was named. Her elder brothers - Rolfe and Steven - held influential staff positions with the California Legislature and, at one point in the late 1970s, found themselves on opposite sides of a contentious speakership fight in the Assembly. Steven, a boyhood friend of the late U.S. Rep. Bob Matsui, eventually served as chief of staff to Assembly Speaker Willie Brown before leaving the Legislature to become vice president for the California Medical Association. Both brothers preceded her in death. Dagmar's keen interest in California politics served her well when, in 1992, she became art director of California Journal magazine, the monthly nonprofit publication that covered California politics and public affairs. Her flair and dynamic use of graphics and color to illustrate stories and profiles revitalized the magazine. She continued in that role until 2005, when the magazine ceased publication. During those 13 years, Dagmar oversaw production of more than 150 issues of the magazine, commissioning artwork and creating graphics for every article in the magazine. In addition, her personal artwork in the form of paintings, collages and graphic designs graced many of the magazine's covers. Dagmar subsequently worked in the same capacity for Comstock's magazine and for Children's Action, Inc. She retired in 2012, although she continued to consult and work as a freelance graphic artist. Dagmar is survived by her sister-in-law, Nancy Miller Thompson, nieces Hallie and Sky Thompson, nephews Peter and Scott Thompson, one grandniece and two grandnephews. A memorial service will be held Sunday, February 2, at 10:00 AM at Dagmar's favorite Sacramento hangout - Vic's Ice Cream on the corner of 8th Avenue and Riverside Boulevard.