| Honored by: | Patricia B. Swan |
| Brick location: | PAVER:8 map |
Margaret and her twin brother, George were born to Pearl Tower Thompson and Dr. G.B. Thompson in Winthrop, Iowa on April 28, 1902. She had an older sister ,Pearl Thompson Brintnall. The twins grew up in Winthrop and entered Iowa State University in 1922, graduating with the Class of 1926. George majored in chemistry at Iowa State and went on to study medicine at Johns Hopkins. He spent a lifetime as a practicing family physician, primarily in Ohio.
Margaret majored in foods and nutrition planning to become a dietitian. During her student years at Iowa State, she began to lose her hearing and developed a very severe hearing disability shortly after she graduated. She started a career in the home economics extension service, but found her disability prevented her from carrying out some of her duties. She became an expert lip reader and shared her skill through teaching soldiers who lost their hearing during World War II. She befriended many of these G.I.s and formed lifelong friendships with them and their families.
Most of Margaret's career was spent at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Her responsibilities were those of a medical records librarian. She found her study of the sciences at Iowa State to be a help in this line of work and her hearing disability provided no barrier to her carrying out her duties with the highest quality performance.
Although Margaret never married, she was a favorite aunt to her brother's children and an equal favorite of her nephew's children. She introduced these children to many of the classics of children's literature. She also entertained them with her lip reading skills and with "tricks" that she could do with her very large hearing aid battery. In her spare time she wrote poetry, some of which was published in local newspapers. Margaret Thompson retired to Bryson City, North Carolina where her older sister had lived and where her nephew, Phil Brintnall (Class of 1936), made his home. She died there in 1972.
Submitted on 7/1/96
Paver Inscription:
"Margaret
Maurine
Thompson
Class of 1925"