Thompson, Hugh Currie

Mentioned in the 4/11/1939 and 1/9/1940 Minutes of the Pima County Medical Society, 1904-1954. Arizona Medical Board record: Hugh C. Thompson, Jr. MD; license date: 1/4/1939; medical school: COLUMBIA UNIV COLL OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS, New York, New York; graduation date: 06/04/1930; areas of interest: pediatrics and pediatric allergy.
See Bonny Henry’s 10/12/2009 Arizona Daily Star column “Big Brothers Big Sisters to salute co-founder” (http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/fromcomments/312828.php)

Charter member (October, 1947) of the Graduate Club of Tucson (see Fish, Robert. “Annals of the Graduate Club of Tucson,” Aug 28, 1971 in the "Oscar Andreas Thorup, Jr. Papers, 1965-1978" [AHSL HT 0017].

Obituaries - Dr. Hugh C. Thompson Sr., Big Brothers founder. The Arizona Daily Star - Thursday, December 10, 1992. Dr. Hugh C. Thompson Sr., a pediatrician who founded the local chapter of Big Brothers and Sisters and worked for more than half a century for the benefit of children as a doctor and humanitarian, died Monday. He was 86. Thompson was well-known in the medical field and is credited with starting the first countywide polio immunization program in the nation. "He just loved kids," said his son, Dr. Hugh C. Thompson III. "It was his avocation as well as his vocation." Thompson was born in New Rochelle, N.Y. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale University in New Haven, Conn., in 1926 and graduated with medical degree from Columbia University in New York City in 1930. Thompson was an assistant in pediatrics and instructor in clinical pathology at Albany Medical College and had his own practice in Albany from 1934 to 1938. He came to Tucson in 1939 to work as a pediatrician for the Desert Sanatorium. From 1940 through the ensuing 51 years Thompson attended to his young patients or worked as a consultant in pediatrics for the Tucson Clinic, Crippled Children's Services, the U.S. Army Hospital at Fort Huachuca, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Hospital, El Rio Neighborhood Center and Pima County's hospital, now Kino Community Hospital. While working with patients, apparently, Thompson became aware that many young boys needed role models and companionship. He and the Rev. David Sholin founded Big Brothers in 1962. Within its first year, Big Brothers had helped 54 children. Today, the organization helps about 400 children a year, said Fred Killion, executive director of what is now Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Killion said Thompson kept in touch with the organization long after his official involvement ended, often calling with the names of needy families or children. Thompson also was an allergy specialist and was active in many professional organizations. He served as president of both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pima County Medical Society, and was a member of the Arizona Medical Association. In 1970 Thompson joined the University of Arizona as one of the first College of Medicine faculty members. He was professor of the allergy/immunology section for the departments of pediatrics and family/community medicine there until 1980, when he became a professor emeritus. "For many years he was the sole pediatric allergist there. . . . The major contribution among many was to really maintain good relations between the department of pediatrics and the practicing pediatric community," said Dr. Elmer Lightner, a UA professor of pediatrics who had known Thompson since 1963. "In many ways he was one of the most unique people I've every met, in his broadness and his caring," Lightner said. "I guess he set a standard to be measured by." Thompson is survived by his wife, Alice Cresswell Thompson , of Tucson; sons, Dr. Hugh C. Thompson III of Tucson and Dr. Richard Thompson of Maui, Hawaii; a daughter, Betsy Miller of Hermosa Beach, Calif.; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church, 3809 E. Third St.

JAMA, Nov 1993; 270: 2121: THOMPSON, Hugh Currie, 86, Tucson, Ariz; Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1930; certified by the American Board of Pediatrics; died December 7, 1992.