Arthur “Joe” Thompson is 2004 La Cañadan of the Year

by Frances Hill, Special to the Valley Sun

Arthur J. Thompson will be honored as 2004 La Cañadan of the Year by the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada May 4 at a luncheon in Van de Kamp Hall at Descanso Gardens.

Expected to be celebrating with Thompson are his wife Lynne, and their three children: Rob, who lives in Los Alamitos with his wife and four children; Laurie Weller, Irvine resident and mother of two boys, and Greg, parent of three daughters who lives in Atlanta, Ga.

Thompson’s sister, Kay Colldeweih and her husband Jack, a retired college professor, are traveling from Somerset, N.J. to attend. They will be joined by a standing-room-only crowd of friends, neighbors and Kiwanis associates.

Born in Glendale, Thompson attended Mark Kepple Elementary, Toll Junior High School and Hoover High School where he excelled in sports. “He was always a team player,” says Joy Gifford, whose husband was a Hoover basketball teammate. “It’s a trait that Joe has exhibited in both his business career and his community service.”

Thompson attended University of Southern California on a Navy R.O.T.C. scholarship where he majored in engineering and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and two honorary engineering fraternities. Following a tour of duty in the US Navy, he was employed as a civil engineer in Los Angeles and earned a master of science degree in business management at Cal State Los Angeles.

He joined the Southern California Gas Co. in 1963 where he worked in industrial sales, environmental affairs, research and development, governmental affairs, codes and ordinances, and public affairs. During his 30-year career, he was twice honored for outstanding public service by the Los Angeles City Council.

Lynne Wallace and Arthur Thompson were married in 1961 and moved to La Cañada in 1975. While the Thompson children attended La Cañada schools, their father was active as a coach in La Cañada Junior Baseball and Basketball and served twice as coach of the 7th/8th grade All-Star basketball team. At the high school level, the sports enthusiast led the Spartan Boosters Club in 1988/89 and received the Principal’s Award for outstanding volunteer service.

Since 1993, Thompson has coached the LCHS Girls’ Varsity Tennis team, guiding them to three Rio Hondo league team titles and six individual doubles titles. Each year the Spartans have advanced to the CIF playoffs, once earning the Small Schools Academic Championship.

A natural interest in the community and a desire to serve led Thompson to the LCF Public Works Commission for eight years, including two terms as chairman. The commission handles traffic signals, speed and safety, parking regulations, residential fencing and trash disposal. Fellow commissioner Jeanne Edwards remembers that Thompson always arrived at commission meetings prepared to discuss the agenda items and give thoughtful opinions.

“Sometimes the item was a difficult one, pitting neighbor against neighbor,” Edwards said. “As chairman, Joe always made sure that all sides of the discussion were given voice, both from the public and the commission members.”

Joining the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada AM in 1996, Thompson continued his volunteer involvement, serving as club president and two terms as Lt. Gov. for Division III, which includes Kiwanis clubs located from Hollywood-Los Feliz and North East Los Angeles through Glendale and across the Foothills from La Cañada to Sunland. Currently, he serves as advisor to the division’s Key Clubs, the Kiwanis-sponsored service clubs for high school students.

Fellow Kiwanians have honored Thompson with significant awards: Hixson Fellow, Dunlap Fellow, Heritage Society Award and Tablet of Honor. Pat Liddell, Thompson’s immediate predecessor as Division III Lt. Gov., points out that he is the only person in the 80-year history of the division to have been asked to serve two terms. “Joe is a Kiwanian’s Kiwanian; he never fails to give of himself for the benefit of others.”

At Kiwanis Thompson participates in the AM club’s daily food collection and distribution program, helping to pick up day-old dairy and deli items from local groceries for delivery to homeless shelters in Los Angeles and Pasadena. As vice-president of the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce and Community Association, he coordinates the joint AM Kiwanis-Chamber French Toast Breakfast during Memorial Weekend.

Many other volunteer organizations benefit from Thompson’s efforts. He has been member of the Lanterman Historical Museum Foundation board since 2001, and area chairman of La Cañada Valley Beautiful. He and Lynne are members of the Stardusters Dance Club, where he presided in 1997/98. A member of the Los Angeles Host Lions Club for eight years, Thompson served as president in 1995/96.

At La Cañada Presbyterian Church, Thompson has been an usher, a Sunday School teacher, and a member of the Stewardship Committee. He and Lynne have served three times as Skippers for the Voyagers Support Group.

“Joe’s passion is tennis,” says Lynne, and he is very good at it. A member of the Flint Canyon Tennis Club and the L.S.T.A., he is a ranked singles and doubles player and was a member of a National Championship team in 1981.

Running a close second to tennis is Thompson’s love of fishing. His annual trip to British Columbia has netted such quantities of ling cod, salmon and halibut that the Thompsons needed to purchase a freezer just to hold the catch.

Long Community Tradition

Originated in 1951, the annual La Cañadan of the Year award is among the most coveted recognitions in the community. The second recipient of the honor was former Assemblyman and cityhood champion Frank Lanterman.

Some of the others honored in recent memory are Jack Samuelson, Jim Reynolds, Don Ziehl, Nila Barkley, Dick and Shirley DeGrey, Dave Herrman, Jean McVicker, Bob and Liz Craven, Joel Smith, Neal and Molly Brockmeyer, David and Alice Spence, Ken and Sue Schechter, Joan Feehan, Claire Slaughter, Joy Gifford, Wes Seastrom, Don and Shirley Hingst, Eileen Ferber and last year’s recipient, Sherrill Carbonetti.