Donald Charles Thompson

Donald Charles Thompson, 92, of Pittsburgh, passed away peacefully on March 31, 2026.

He was the beloved husband of the late Ann Robinson Thompson, whom he married on September 6, 1958, in a ceremony officiated by Dr. John Calvin Reid at Southminster Presbyterian Church.

Donald was a devoted father and grandfather. He is survived by his three children, all with deep ties to Pittsburgh. His daughter, Sharon Lyn Thompson, of the Mexican War Streets and Mfuwe, Zambia, is the mother of Maxfield Remington Wholey. His son, Peter Hall Thompson, and his wife, Marie Maxwell, of Mt. Lebanon, are the parents of nine children: Spencer (Megan Steffl), Emma (Steve Brown), Duncan, Kai, Malcolm, Maisie, Finn, Quinn, and Aila. His youngest son, Bruce Robert Thompson, resides in the Mexican War Streets.

Donald was preceded in death by his sister, Marjorie Holliman of Elm Grove, Missouri.

Don was born in Erie, PA on October 28, 1933, the son of the late Charles F. and Margaret L. Thompson, graduating with honors from Millcreek High School in the class of 1951 during which time he was bounced from classes for being a wise-ass, and paddled by the principal on several occasions.  He played on the basketball, golf team, and pitched two consecutive no-hitters in baseball. He attended Washington & Jefferson College and graduated in 1955 with a major in Literature and minor in Mathematics. The major would have been math, but in working to pay for school he received a ‘D’ in Vector Analysis from the professor who invented it, who suggested that a different major might be prudent. A short walk to the English Lit building and a first writing venture titled “The Mathematical and Sexual Symbolism in Herman Melville's Moby Dick” (mostly BS) endeared him and began his long career as a writer. Don later did graduate studies and lecturing at the University of Pittsburgh and completed the Executive Management Program at Penn State.

Commissioned upon graduation from W&J as a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Army Transportation Corps, he served his first tour of active duty in 1955-56 at Fort Eustis, VA as a Diesel Locomotive Repair Shop Superintendent about which he remembers knowing precious little and succeeding in almost flipping a 16-unit Alco diesel locomotive on a test run. During the Berlin Crisis of 1961, Don was recalled to active duty in 1961 with his reserve unit and served through 1962 as Executive Officer of his transport unit at Fort Bragg, NC. in support of the 82nd Airborne Corps. He was the baseball team organizer and played shortstop for the 36th Transport Battalion in the Fort Bragg league, and was a graduate of the 7th Special Forces School, after which the opportunity arose to become a Regular Army officer, complete the SF requirements, and likely not survive as an A-Team leader in Vietnam. A few of his friends from Bragg did not. That idea was vetoed by Ann and 1-year old Sherri who joined him living in Southern Pines during the tour. He resigned his commission as a Captain in 1965, shortly after which his unit was called to active duty once again and sent to Vietnam.

Shortly after their wedding in 1958, Don and Ann became interested in sports car and Formula 1 racing, and owned a Morgan, Austin-Healey, and Jaguar XKE. When the birth of Sharon was overdue in 1960 they drove down West Liberty Avenue on the cobblestone in the Morgan to encourage her arrival.  They served together several years as heads of timing and scoring for SCCA, and watched F1 racing at Monaco and Watkins Glen.    

Don began his business career in 1956 with Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp. as a computer programmer although the company had no computer at the time. His career progressed to various systems analysis positions, Manager of Operations Research, Director of various US functions at the successor company Allegheny International, Inc. and he retired after 30 years with a now ‘not-so-golden’ parachute in 1987 as IT Staff Vice President, shortly before the company‘s demise.

Upon retirement, his great fondness for golf led him to improve his game to the point that he won the Lindenwood Golf Club men's senior championship 7 of 11 years (1999 — 2009), and was also active in the South Hills senior softball well into his 80’s.  When asked how long he has been playing ball, his response was “My grandma let me cross the street to the park at 3 years of age, so I've been playing for 80-some years”.  Don and Ann enjoyed traveling, with many interesting adventures throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji as well as frequent trips to Europe. Family vacations included many years of skiing at Snowmass and Aspen, and 20 years of summer beach vacations at Pawley's Island, SC.

In recent years he and partner June Murray enjoyed winters in Naples, FL, loved trips (sort of) to her home state of New Jersey, the Jersey shore at Ocean City with her family, and a great vacation trip to Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.

In his early years Don acquired the ‘collector's gene’ saving stamps and coins and helping his boys acquire over 3,000 beer cans.  Later Don became interested of 1920’s era glass, authored and published a collector's book entitled “Houze Glass” in 2001, and was a member of several glass societies.  Writing continued through the later years with a 250-page autobiography aptly entitled ‘A Road Well Traveled’, and recently ‘Brain Cramps from my Balcony’ which includes numerous factual and fictitious short stories to which someone may add the “Last Words” per George Carlin's tome.  His latest book, a full length novel “The Magic Man” has been published and is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Man-Donald-C-Thompson/dp/1528940601 . His volunteer activities included VITA income tax preparation for the elderly, council VP at Cochran Hall, several terms as Deacon, Elder and President of the Board of Trustees at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Mt. Lebanon, and longtime chairman of the Columbarium Committee where he plans to reside until further notice, or hopefully when the ‘ultimate nature of reality’ becomes clear and he moves on to his next life.

A memorial service will be held at Southminster Presbyterian Church, 799 Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon on April 2, at 10:30 AM. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Southminster Presbyterian Church or to a charity of the donor’s choice.

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