Charles “Tim” L. Thompson was born on March 1, 1924 in the town of Coalport, Pa.
He was the son of Maurice “Tommy” and Doris (Curry) Thompson. His father, Maurice, was a coal miner.
As a youngster, Tim played baseball in the coal mining leagues. At the age of 18, he joined the U.S. Navy.
He married his high school sweetheart, Lois (McCartney) Thompson, right out of high school.
During World War II, he served his country where he flew lighter than air K-class blimps built by Goodyear to patrol the Pacific Coast for submarines and mines.
Thompson was based out of Moffett Federal Airfield in the Silicon Valley area of California.
In 1945 he accepted a job on the third-shift manufacturing line at the America Viscose Company so he could play baseball during the day.
Tim received an offer to play professional baseball from a scout who had seen him play in the service.
He worked through the minor leagues and made his debut in 1954 in the major leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
He went on to play for the Kansas City Athletics and Detroit Tigers. Tim Thompson batted left-handed and threw right-handed; he was listed as 5’ 11” and 190 pounds.
He played professional baseball for 16 seasons. After his retirement from the baseball field, he was a coach for the St. Louis Cardinals and scouted for the Cardinals, Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles.
Tim and Lois had one son, Tim Jr. (1943-2007) and were together for over 80 years.
Charles L. “Tim” Thompson died Oct. 25, 2021 in Lewistown, Pa. Lois died two days later on Oct. 27, 2021 at their home.
According to their obituaries, they were the cornerstone of their family, model partners in life, loving grandparents and caretakers, and as pure of heart as two people could be.
