Liberty Lost a Friend.

 

Allan Edward “Ed” Thompson (66) passed away at 1:23 this morning after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.  Visitation will be held in Tomah at the Torkelson Funeral Home from 2 – 6 p.m. on Sunday (2224 Gasoline Alley, Tomah, near Exit 41 on I-90).  Funeral services will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 303 W. Monroe St., Tomah, at 10 a.m. Monday with a memorial to follow at the Tee Pee Supper Club.

Ed was born on Christmas Day, 1944 in Elroy, Wisconsin.  For more than 20 years, Ed owned and grew the Tee Pee Supper Club in downtown Tomah.  Ed Thompson had been twice elected Mayor of Tomah as well as elected by write-in to the Tomah City Council. He set a third-party record when, in 2002 as the Libertarian Party candidate for governor of Wisconsin he captured 11 percent of the statewide vote.  He ran for the state senate as a Republican in 2010 and despite the diagnosis and early treatment for his cancer, which took him off the campaign trail for the final six weeks, he came within a half-percent of winning.

He passed away in his own home, surrounded by his loving family, including his children Ann Marie, Kristin Beth, Allan Edward “Chip”, and Joshua; his brothers Art, former Governor and HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, and his sister Juliann Martin; and his long-time friend Josie Swenson.  He also has eight grandchildren.

Ed requested that instead of flowers, anybody wishing to memorialize him could do so best by making a contribution to the Community Thanksgiving Dinner he founded. Donations may be sent in care of the Tee Pee Supper Club, 812 Superior Avenue, Tomah, WI 54660.