Off the Sidelines and Scouting for a Good Cause

Life has taken Kathryn Thompson from power hostess to someone rarely seen on the social circuit.

It used to be, in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, that the Orange County developer’s name topped just about every guest list.

But in recent years, family and business commitments have left her little time for the charity scene. Still, when the Boy Scouts of America, Orange County Council, called, she couldn’t say no. The council invited Thompson to chair its Women of Excellence Awards on Nov. 2 at the Sutton Place Hotel in Newport Beach.

Thompson loved the idea of the Boy Scouts honoring professional women.

“I was glad to see they were using women as a catalyst to raise funds for their Learning for Life program,” she said. “It is a program I believe in.”

While traditional Scouting is reserved for boys and their parents, Learning for Life brings education about values and ethics to the classroom. There, volunteers teach boys and girls the tenets of Scouting.

“We have a weekly curriculum that teaches kids how to be good citizens--when to say no, why we don’t lie or cheat,” said Margaret Lewis, an executive with the Learning for Life program in Costa Mesa.

In 1985, the Boys Scouts presented Thompson with the prestigious Good Scout Award, a community service accolade traditionally reserved for men.

It was a natural for her to want to chair a benefit in which other women were being honored by the Scouts. “The women chosen to receive awards represent a diverse group,” Thompson said. “Mostly, they are women who accomplish a great deal but don’t get recognized.”

Receiving Women of Excellence awards are: Donna Leeds Owen, president of Venture Films; Judy Rosener, UC Irvine professor; B. Tam Nomoto, municipal judge in Santa Ana; and Socorro Vasquez, a community service volunteer.

Also being honored are Virginia Carson, a professor at Chapman University; Joanne Miner, executive director of the United Cerebral Palsy Assn. of Orange County; Judi Garman, a coach at Cal State Fullerton; and Judith Sweeney, president of The Times, Orange County.

*

In earlier times, Thompson regularly chaired fund-raisers with six-figure proceeds for the Orangewood Children’s Foundation, the American Red Cross and the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Not to mention the thousands of dollars she garnered for the Bush and Clinton presidential campaigns.

Chairing a benefit takes “a lot of involvement,” Thompson said. “First, it takes years to build a reputation--networking with people to the point where you can ask for their support. And it’s costly. You ask people to give you something, and they, in turn, are going to ask you back.”

Looking back on her whirlwind society years--a black-tie ball just about every weekend--Thompson wonders how she did it all. When she wasn’t at work, she was being fitted for a custom frock, attending underwriting parties and meeting with caterers, floral arrangers, rental companies.

As chief executive officer of the Kathryn G. Thompson Co., a residential development arm of the Koll Real Estate Group, she works seven days a week.

Business is more demanding than ever, she says. (“I’m still waiting for the tide to turn [in real estate]. Who would have expected the bankruptcy?”) Her daughter, who has been ill for the past year, needs her. Her husband, Gus Owen, was appointed by President Clinton to serve as vice chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission in Washington, and coordinating their busy schedules is difficult.

*

While she doesn’t miss the dizziness of a heavy society schedule, she has no regrets about her past involvement.

“Those events were a major part of my life. It was wonderful,” she said. “But now I feel like I’ve been there, done that, don’t want to do it anymore.

“And it’s time for other people to take over. And they are. It’s very encouraging to me that so many people out there are doing what needs to be done.”

From her view on the sidelines, Thompson has seen a change in the way corporate Orange County spends its charity dollar.

“In the ‘80s, when charities were so dependent on the construction industry here, you saw an entrepreneurial kind of giving--developers sharing their personal wealth.

“Now, with the major withdrawal of that money, I see new resources coming in--Taco Bell, for example, and Fluor.

“It’s good that we are getting more diversified in the kinds of industry involved in charity giving.”

Will she ever chair a high-profile gala again? “If the timing was right, yes,” she said.

Meanwhile, she is looking forward to the luncheon on behalf of the Boy Scouts’ Learning for Life program.

Thompson says she will always be as involved as possible in the community. “I’ve been so fortunate and blessed with so many things, I feel I [need] to give something back.”