Arthur Thomson

Arthur  Roderick Thomson,
age 90, of Wilmington, Ohio, passed away Tuesday afternoon, July 17, 2012 at the Wilmington Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Wilmington after a long battle with Alzheimer's.

He was born October 6, 1921 in Toronto, Canada.  He emigrated to the states when he was four years old with his parents, Roderick F. & Anne Grace (Cooper) Thomson.  He grew up in Ferndale, Michigan and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1940.  He graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.  At university, he was part of the V-12 program and the Naval ROTC.  He was commissioned as a Lt J G in the Navy in 1943.  In the Navy, he was posted to several places in the United States and ultimately to Hawaii as an officer in the Naval Air Transport Command which flew the many thousands of wounded from the Pacific to Hawaii.  He loved the Navy and remained in the Naval Reserves for 16 years after the end of the war.

Arthur worked for NASA and TRW for 27 years.  After retirement, he taught for 9 years at Cleveland State University where he developed a manufacturing engineering program.  After that he worked as a consultant in the engineering department of Case Western Reserve and later in the Cleveland Advanced Manufacturing Program (CAMP). When he was 79, he and his wife retired to Wilmington.

He was a member of the Cleveland Engineering Society, Society of Professional Engineers of Ohio, Willoughby Flying Club, Univ. of Michigan Alumni Assoc., CIRP, and the Wilmington Presbyterian Church.

Surviving are wife of 68 years- Sherry Thomson, whom he married on December 24, 1943 in Miami, FL, 2 sons- Rod (Barbara) Thomson of Cincinnati, OH and Bruce (Kathryn) Thomson, of Xenia; his daughter- Ruth (David) Chestnut, of Wilmington ;4 grandchildren-Ryan, Caitlin, & Kyle Chestnut and Andrew Thomson; and 2 sisters- Eleanor Kolbe, of Carson City, NV and Marian Dean, of Indianapolis, IN.

Services will be held Friday, September 14 at 1:00 PM at the Presbyterian Church of Wilmington, 840 Timber Glen Drive, Wilmington, with Rev. G. David Hawley & Rev. Jeffrey Ott officiating.  The family will receive friends immediately following the servcies in the fellowship hall.  Interment will follow the next day, Saturday, September 15 at 11:00 AM in the Crown Hill Cemetery, Twinsburg, Ohio, with Rev. John Lentz officiating.  The US Navy Honor Guard will also accord military honors.
The Family requests NO flowers. Contributions in Mr. Thomson's memory may be made to the Sugartree Ministry Center, 180 East Main Street, Wilmington 45177 or the Hospice of the Miami Valley, 46 North Detroit Street, #B, Xenia, Ohio 45385 .  For more information and to sign the online guest book, please go to www.edgingtonfuneralhomes.com.  The Fisher-Edgington Funeral Home, Wilmington is serving the family.

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