Glenn W. Thompson

Glenn W. Thompson, 88, of Meadville, passed away Sunday, March 31, 2019 at the Marquette House.

He was born September 8, 1930 in Harrisville, a son of James A.G. and Ruth Sloan Thompson.  He married Margie Say October 24, 1951.

Glenn enjoyed singing and first performed in public at the age of 5 in front of about 400 people for a local deer hunter’s association banquet.  He stood beside a piano dressed in a cowboy hat and boots and sang “I’m Gonna Be A Cowboy When I Get Big Like My Dad.”  He sang duets and solos in high school and college, was in musicals and plays.

Glenn was a 1948 graduate of Harrisville High School, attended Grove City College and graduated from Clarion University in 1952.  He then entered the U.S. Air Force serving from 1952 to 1956 stateside during the Korean War.  An Airman Basic, he became flight commander and out of 20,000 airmen he was picked from his wing as the outstanding airman to compete for the American Spirit Honor Medal which he came in 2nd.  From Basic he went to the Base Instructor’s School and graduated as the honor graduate, 1st in the class.  He sang in the Airman’s Chorus called the Sampsonaires.  They travelled to Rochester, Syracuse Atlantic City and other places putting on concerts.  He valued his time in the Air Force, for his associates showed him his true value and ability.  He started to have confidence in his work and became successful academically and professionally.  While serving in the Air Force, he served as Pastor of a small local church.  He was sent to the psychiatric ward to help set up a program of Neuropsychiatric Rehabilitation.  He took courses at a nearby college and before graduation was admitted to Penn State University and received a departmental assistantship and was lucky enough to find his mentor Dale B. Harris, a famous developmental psychologist.  He then received a Public Health Service Fellowship.  You only needed 60% A’s & H’s to graduate but he had 90%.  He received his PhD in Clinical/Developmental Psychology from Penn State and did post-doctoral work at San Diego State University in Gerontology.  He still wanted to be a basketball coach and eventually blended the two by going into sports psychology.  He enjoyed travelling with the basketball team and going into the locker room with the team and coaches before games and at halftime.  He was appointed the team’s “Sixth Man.”

Glenn did his clinical internship at Laurelton State Village and an internship as a school psychologist in Orleans County, NY.

He was a professor of Psychology at Allegheny College for 35 years and later appointed Professor Emeritus.  He received early tenure and promotion at Allegheny.  He had his first paper read at a national convention and was interviewed by a New York Times reporter.  References were made to the paper in New York newspapers and television across the U.S. and several countries abroad.  As a result, he was invited and went to Yugoslavia to collaborate with a researcher in the same field and participated in a State Department council for International Education for 2 weeks in Yugoslavia in 1966.  He turned down offers at three prestigious schools because he found he was neglecting his family and not taking time to live his life.  He further enjoyed the close group of loving friends he and Margie were accruing.  He was proud go present a paper with one of his students at the International Olympic Committee World Congress on Sport Science at the Olympics in Atlanta.  He worked for a week at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado with the U.S. Ski team before the Olympics were held in Norjan, Norway.

Glenn was a part-time staff psychologist at Crawford County Mental Health Center and helped Miss Helen Miles in its establishment until 1978.  In 1978, he went into private practice with his wife, Margie, as his office manager and continued until the fall of 2015.

A member of the First Presbyterian Church, Glenn enjoyed golfing (winning some trophies), reading, visiting his relatives and friends, and travelling.  He travelled to the southernmost city in the U.S. in Hawaii and the northern most city in the U.S. in Alaska at Prudhoe Bay as well as trips to Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and other parts of Europe.  He loved singing and sang in various choirs and choruses including church choirs from age 13 through 87.  He sang in the Meadville Chorale almost from its inception through 2018, the Barnstormers singing group in Florida and the New England states, the Men’s Glee Club of Deland, FL, as a winter member of the Trinity Methodist Church Choir of Deland, and sang “I Wonder As I Wonder” at Christmas Eve services at First Presbyterian Church for 47 years.

Actively involved in the community, Glenn was a member of the Men’s Literary Union, Roundtable, Meadville Country Club, PA State Mental Health Board for 10 years, appointed to the Board at Warren State Hospital by Governor Raymond Shafer, treasurer of the Crawford County Hospital Authority, helped Ray Bacher establish Vallonia Industries and continued to serve on the Board, and committee chairman of Boy Scout Troop 244 for 10 years.

In 1967, Glenn and Margie helped establish the Elbow Benders of America (EBOA), a group of local people to gather socially to become better acquainted.  They also enjoyed their time spent with the Scotland group through First Presbyterian Church.

His deepest values were family, church, trust, integrity, honesty, to do everything to the best of his ability, have time to smell the roses, see the humor in things, and laugh often and love deeply.

Survivors, in addition to his loving wife Margie, include four children, Patti Ann Shook (Michael) of Cranberry Township, Glenn A.W. Thompson (Sue) of Meadville, Lisa Annette Chandler (Andrew) of Brookville, and Stuart D.F. Thompson of Meadville; eight grandchildren, Christopher Shook of Cranberry Township, Clinton Thompson of Meadville, Lila Thompson of Pittsburgh, James Glenn Chandler of Brookville, Andrea Chandler Dalton (Josh) of Meadville, Shannon Chandler Tatman (Patrick) of Utah, Gwendolyn Thompson Dove (Josh) of Stockton, TX and Shane Thompson of Meadville; a great-grandson, Carson Tatman; a sister, Marlene Davis (James) of Hot Springs Village, AR; a sister-in-law, Betty Say Waechter (Eugene) of Overland Park, KS; and several nieces and nephews.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two sisters, Thelma Ruth Durschlag and Dorothy Alice Spence; a brother, Frederick Thompson; a daughter-in-law, Paulette (Pauli) Thompson; a sister-in-law, Pearl Say Hughes Kilpatrick; and a nephew, William Durschlag, Jr.

Calling hours will be Friday, April 5th from 4-8 p.m. at the ROBERT W. WAID FUNERAL HOME, 581 CHESTNUT ST., MEADVILLE.

A memorial service will be Saturday, April 6th at 11:00 a.m. at the Frist Presbyterian Church, 890 Liberty St., Meadville with the Rev. Dr. Brian Jensen officiating.

Interment will be in Greendale Cemetery with military honors provided by VFW Post 2006.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Vallonia Industries, 78 W. Poplar St., Meadville, PA 16335 (for the establishment of a memorial in Glenn’s name).

Memories and condolences may be shared at www.waidfuneralhome.net.