Happy Birthday Len!

Len Thompson was born on October 14, 1894 making today his 120th birthday. We think he would have thought it was pretty special that his  lures continue to be used today and that his business is now in its 85th year of operation. Read on to learn more about his life story.

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Leonard John Thompson was born to William and Rosanna Thompson on October 14, 1894. In a family of five children, he lived in Abernethy Saskatchewan helping out on his parent’s farm raising Clysdale Horses and seed. [1]

Len Thompson (1940)

Len's first handmade spoons

On March 30, 1917, Len enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in Regina Saskachewan. At the time he belonged to the 95th Saskatchewan Rifles Active Militia. [2] He fought in the 46th Battalion at Vimy as a 1st Class Sniper. [3]  The 46th Battalion – composed mostly of soldiers from southern Saskatchewan – was a “particularly aggressive unit” fighting in trenches that were sometimes only 35 yards from enemy defenses. Raids by the Germans were rare and in small groups and Canadians along the Vimy front made it a game to taunt their enemy’s efforts. The 46th Battalion also joined the 50th and 44th to attack “The Pimple,” a German strong point on Vimy’s northern ridge on April 12. The Canadians captured the area from the enemy – some of them “elite Prussians of the 5th Guard … who sneered at the Canadians as ‘untrained Colonial levies’” – in a two-hour battle during a heavy snowstorm. [4]

Len was wounded at Vimy on an unknown date suffering shrapnel wounds to his leg and family documents report he had also contracted malaria. [5] He returned home to Abernethy June 1919 and continued farming on the family farm.

An avid sportsman, he enjoyed hunting, baseball, tennis, hockey, curling, trapshooting and most of all, fishing. In 1929 he invented the first Len Thompson fishing lure and began producing the spoons out of the farm. By 1945, Len had built a separate factory in Abernethy to mass-produce his tackle. [6]

Len married Myra Garratt in 1950. A widow, Myra had been married to WWI veteran Sydney Bearden who served in the 28th Battalion overseas in France, Belgium and Germany. [7] Syndey and Myra had one daughter together named Myrtle Bearden but Len and Myra never had children of their own. Myrtle remembers Len fondly saying he “was a kind and thoughtful man.” [8] She married Cecil Pallister of Abernethy the same year Len and Myra exchanged vows and in 1958 the two couples relocated to Lacombe Alberta to continue developing the family business. Myrtle and Cecil had two children at that time, Sydney Thomas (6) and Richard John (5) who grew up spending time with their Grandpa fishing, watching baseball and hockey, shooting pellet guns and eating Gingersnaps and orange ice cream floats. [9]

Len & Myra Thompson (1959)

Leonard began suffering from Alzheimer’s at the age of 80. He passed away on January 13, 1979 at the age of 85 years.

Sydney Bearden - WWI

Cecil & Myrtle Pallister (1950)

Len Thompson with Grandson's Syd & Richard (1959)

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[1] Abernethy History Association, Dance on the Bridge: A History of Abernethy and Area (Regina: W. A. Print Works, 1983), p. 565.
[2] Attestation Papers. Soldiers of the First World War Database, Library and Archives Canada, December 2006. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-909.006-e.html (September 2008).
 [3] Abernethy History Association, Dance on the Bridge: A History of Abernethy and Area, p. 566.
[4] Pierre Berton, Vimy (Anchor Canada, 1986), p. 116.
[5] Myra Thompson, hand written family document.
[6] Abernethy History Association, Dance on the Bridge: A History of Abernethy and Area, p. 174.
[7]Myra Thompson, hand written family document.
[8] Myrtle (Beardon) Pallister, interview, Lacombe Alberta, October 2008.
[9] Richard Pallister, interview, Lacombe Alberta, October 2008.