Richard S. (“Dick”) Thompson, 69, passed away on July 1, 2018, at Fort Bayard Medical Center in Santa Clara, NM, after a two-year siege of brain cancer. He was born in Pomona, CA, on August 8, 1948, to Dorothy (Zern) and Rae Turner Thompson. He attended San Bernardino area schools, graduating from Pacific High School in 1966. He was awarded a full scholarship to Amherst College in Amherst, MA, graduating in 1973 with a major in English.

Dick worked in several jobs in Boston and Worcester, MA, before discovering the fascination of computers. For the next fifteen years he worked in Information Systems at Thom McAn, a division of Melville Shoe Co., headquartered in Worcester. After that he spent several years as an independent consultant in database administration. Dick had various hobbies: he competed for many years in automobile rallying; he was interested in model railroading; he collected rock ‘n’ roll on vinyl, and later amassed a collection of books, mostly Western Americana. Since moving to New Mexico in 2010, he had been honing his woodworking skills in building cabinetry and furniture. In everything he did, Dick cultivated expertise and arcane knowledge; he had a passion for knowing and understanding and could never settle for the superficial. But his greatest love was always the open road; at age fifty he celebrated one million miles driven, and in retirement explored back roads throughout the Southwest.

Dick is survived by his wife of thirty-one years, Suzanne (Zeller) Thompson. He also leaves a sister, Carol Shearer of Redlands, CA, stepchildren Elizabeth Reed-Swale of Rocky Hill, CT, and Andrew Reed of Thompson, CT, and their families. Services will be private.