Norman Powers Thompson Jr.

Tommy Thompson loved his family, the Florida Gators, the St. Johns River, blues music, and his pristine blue-and-white Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. A man of notable, wide-ranging accomplishments and a long-time resident of Maitland, he died unexpectedly at age 75 on January 29th.

A native of Keystone Heights, Florida, Tommy graduated from the University of Florida where he would become a lifetime Gators fan and meet his future wife, the lovely Susan Overstreet of Winter Park. Later, Tommy's friends loved to attend football games with him, one reason being that his two season tickets were midway up the west stands on either side of the 50-yard-line. "I could have one foot on one 49-yard line and the other foot on the other 49," he proudly would say.

After serving as an Air Force captain in Germany, Tommy moved with Susan to Central Florida where he had a 35-year career in commercial banking. She was a nurse.

"He was completely organized and professional to a T," recalled banking friend Tom Berrell who, with Tommy, devised a 24-hour bicycle race to benefit muscular dystrophy. The race was patterned after the famed LeMans sports car event, drawing bike teams from both Florida and out of state while raising thousands for the charity. Mr. Berrell also recalled Tommy being named the number one commercial banker in the Barnett Bank system. "He was the kind of guy where even if he had to turn you down for a loan, you still liked him and continued banking with him," he said.

Another Tommy Thompson charitable effort involved turning the vacant Glenn Turner mansion in Seminole County into an annual haunted house to benefit the Winter Park Jaycees. Maitland businessman Stuart Farb who worked on the project recalled how popular and successful it was "way before there was a haunted castle at Disney," he said.

A lover of the Florida outdoors, Tommy frequently could be found on the St. Johns River where he and friends built a riverfront log home in what amounted to wilderness in 1980. The cabin, as it's fondly called, would serve family and friends for the next 40 years. Mr. Farb, a cabin partner, recalled Tommy's precise planning for every detail of the project. "He very accurately laid out the house, the road and which trees had to go" Mr. Farb said.

Mr. Thompson's love of football resulted in volunteer work with Florida Citrus Sports. He was president of the organization in 1995 and chairman in 1996. In 1998 he was given the organization's highest honor, the Howard Palmer Award. "He was just a super guy." said Altamonte Springs dentist Wayne Bennett who worked with him on the Citrus committee.

Tommy's boyhood affection for music led him to launch a radio show, Smokestack Lightnin', a blues review now in its 30th year. The show has been broadcast on Orlando stations WPRK, WLOQ and WUCF. Later, the internet helped create a world-wide audience. Tommy by then had retired from regular business and was devoted full time to the creation of the show. Musicians sent samples to his studio home in Maitland that he would review and play on the show. "He gave thousands of musicians a way to get on the public airways," said Orlando attorney Paul Newnum, who helped create the project with friend Marvin Rooks. Rob McKinney from Kissimmee later joined the team. "Tommy's dedication to the show was on an order of magnitude almost greater than life," Mr. McKinney said.

Tommy Thompson was predeceased by parents Norman P. Thompson Sr. and Frances Lott Thompson and wife Susan. He is survived by daughter Buffy Duhon and son-in-law Mike Duhon of Allen, Texas; son Steven Thompson of Jacksonville; sisters Pamela Wansor of Hawaii and Peggy Thompson of Idaho; grandchildren Chase Duhon and Cole Duhon; and Susan's aunt Gwen Wilburn of Winter Park.

A private family service will be held in the coming days at Glen Haven Memorial Park in Winter Park.