Fonds RNT - Robert N. Thompson fonds

Robert Thompson was born in Duluth, Minnesota, but raised in Innisfail, Alberta. He was educated at the Calgary Normal School, Garbutt Buisiness College in Calgary, Palmer College of Chiropractic in Iowa, Bob Jones University in South Carolina, and the University of British Columbia. He was a teacher in Alberta from 1934 to 1936. In 1939, he married Hazel Maxine Kurth; they had eight children: Grace, Alice, George, David, Lois, Paul, Robert (known as Mak), and Stephen. During World War II he served as an instructor in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. In 1943 the family relocated to Ethiopia with the Sudan Interior Mission. He was seconded to the Ministry of Education until 1952, and acted occasionally as a diplomat for Ethiopia from 1953 to 1958, when the family returned to Canada. He was president of the Social Credit Party of Canada from 1960 to 1961, its national leader from 1961 to 1967, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Red Deer (Alberta) from 1962 to 1972. During the 1970s and 1980s he served as an administrator and instructor (Political Science) at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C. He was active in many organizations throughout his life, serving on the boards of Mission Aviation Fellowship, Samaritan's Purse, Gospel Recordings Inc., and World Vision. His numerous awards include the Star of Ethiopia and the Order of Canada.
Hazel passed away in 1992. In 1993 Thompson married Evelyn Brant, who had served for many years as a missionary in Ethiopia with her first husband. Evelyn passed away in 2012.