Posted by Cathy Gowdy on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 09:58:17 :
Marin Independent Journal
Tuesday, May 8, 1990
ROBERT D. THOMSON
Sausalito school principal
Robert Dallas Thomson of Terra Linda, a teacher, principal and administrator in the Sausalito School District for 37 years, died Saturday, May 5, 1990, at Marin General Hospital after a short illness. He was 66.
Mr. Thomson was born in Oakland and grew up in San Francisco. He had resided in Marin for the past 39 years, living in Mill Valley before moving to Terra Linda in 1954.
Mr. Thomson graduated from Lowell High School in San Francisco, where he was an All-Star City Athlete.
Mr. Thomson attended the University of Southern California on a scholarship until he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1943. During World War II, he served in the 2nd Division. Mr. Thomson participated in the invasion of Iwo Jima and witnessed the raising of the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi after the three-week bloody battle to take the island from the Japanese. He also saw combat at Saipan, the Marianas Islands, Guam and Volcano Islands. Among his Marine awards was the Expert Marksman Award.
He graduated in 1950 from the University of Oregon, where he played end for the Beavers. He did graduate work at San Francisco State University.
Mr. Thomson joined the faculty at the former Richardson Bay School in 1951 as a physical education and shop instructor. He became vice principal in 1954 and principal in 1969 of the school, renamed the Martin Luther King Jr. School. He subsequently served as an administrator with the district, retiring in 1988.
He served as a Civil Defense instructor during the 1950s.
Mr. Thomson also was instrumental in formation of the Sausalito Recreation League. He was active in the Terra Linda Athletic League and the Boy Scouts, and interested in geography, travel, reading, golf and fishing.
Mr. Thomson was a retired life member of the California Teachers Association, the phi Delta Kappa professional education fraternity and Sigma Nu fraternity at the University of Southern California.
Mr. Thomson is survived by his wife of 42 years, Arline A. Thomson of Terra Linda; two sons, Dallas C. Thomson of Avery, Idaho, and Duane R. Thomson of Davis; two daughters, Gayle A. Hall of Marinwood and Daphne A. Homestead of Bakersfield; a sister, Dorothy C. Freeman of Concord; a brother, William L. Thomson of Auburn, and eight grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Mount Tamalpais Mortuary Chapel in San Rafael. Inurnment will be in Mount Tamalpais Cemetery in San Rafael.
His family asked that memorial contributions go to the Sausalito School District, San Rafael Recreation Department or Boy Scouts.
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