Lars Henry Thompson

April 1, 2025

Lars was born in Wembley (London) England on February 3, 1933. In 1939 he came to Canada with his parents, Marie and Henry and his sister Karen, arriving in Toronto just a few days before the beginning of WWII. Lars remembers that a German U-boat torpedoed the ship that departed following theirs.

In Toronto he attended Whitney P.S. and Northern Vocational Secondary. At the University of Toronto, Victoria College, Lars majored in philosophy and was a Gold Medalist. It was here he adopted his motto “always question assumptions”. Lars also completed an MA in English at the University of Rochester and started a PhD at University of Toronto.

Lars’s parents moved to Washington when he was 17 and, remaining in Toronto, Lars funded his post-secondary education by working for a meat packing company, IBM, delivering newspapers and working for the YMCA, and he credits the YMCA for fostering his desire to teach students.

Lars began his teaching career at Northern Vocational Toronto, where he once studied, later moving to Bayview Secondary and then to Langstaff Secondary, just north of Toronto.

Having taught summer courses in English at Queen’s Faculty of Education Lars was offered a position there teaching at Queen’s McArthur College and he and his wife Ruth (married in 1956) moved from Markham to Kingston in 1968 with their six children. The children often reminisce about the many made up stories Dad recounted to them over the years both at home and on various camping trips. The boys fondly remember Dad’s active involvement as leader (Baloo) for the cub scouts. Great memories.

After experiencing a marital separation Lars taught beginning teachers in Shandong China for a year supported by his interpreter and friend Ping (Yiping). Upon his return to Canada in 1982 he was joined in Kingston by Lynn Nolan, his companion for 42 years.

Lars was a highly respected educator and he enjoyed the 30 years he taught at Queen’s Faculty of Education. Lars was on the executive of OCTE (Ontario College of Teachers of Education) from 1970 to 1995 and served as President from 1979 to 1981. Lars was also appointed to teach summer classes at the University of Toronto in the English Specialist program from 1983 to 1994, where he received accolades for the quality of his teaching.

Lars was elected to the Frontenac County Board of Education and served many of his 19 years with his friend Peter Watson (Lorraine) and served as Chairman of the Board for one year. Lars also worked for and served on the Board of Kingston Literacy from 1994 to 2011 and he served as President from 1995 to 2001.

Following his retirement from Queen’s University Lars worked on creating teaching materials for SBF Media for many years and continued to publish teacher’s guides on his own with his editor Becci Hayes. These guides included several on Canadian literature and four on Shakespearean plays; the latter were sold in the theatre store in Stratford Ontario.

In addition to his teaching Lars was a lifelong member of the CCF and NDP and ran as a candidate in two Federal Elections, against Flora MacDonald and Keith Norton and one Provincial election. Lars’s political philosophy was that all peoples should share the wealth of this nation, and of the world.

Sports played a large part in Lars’s life. He loved baseball and watched the Blue Jays both live and on TV often wearing his favourite jersey and hat. He was a mid-life hockey player with Queen’s Faculty Flyers at the Harold Harvey Arena and played tennis at the Kingston Tennis Club on Napier Street where he organized weekly Men’s doubles matches. Lars was not known to be a hiker but he enthusiastically joined the Rideau Trail Club with Lynn and volunteered as Hike Co-coordinator, Newsletter Editor, and Board Member and coordinated the Annual Ski Weekend trips to Quebec with Conrad Wolf and Joan Patterson for almost a decade.

After retirement Lars and Lynn travelled in Europe especially to the U.K., Denmark, Norway and France as well as Canada, Russia, Australia and New Zealand. He also taught in Japan for six months and they enjoyed settling in to the Japanese culture. They summered with family and friends at Lars’s log cabins that he rebuilt with the help of his children on an island on Eagle Lake (north of Kingston). When it became too difficult for him to get to the island they bunked in with generous children with cottages on the mainland so that he could spend time in the vicinity of his beloved log cabins.

Lars’s sense of humour was evident all through his life. He loved all forms of entertainment from the Simpson’s to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and he found humour even in his hospital situation, joking with Doctors, the nursing staff, porters and whoever he came in contact with. Play on words were one of his favourite types of humour, he said it helped hone his Scrabble skills.

Lars will be forever missed by his wife Ruth, and his children Lars (Jen), Scott, Devon (Ciaran), Derek, Kris (Cindy), Trina (Don); also grandchildren Tara (Tim), Jamie (Cody), Hayley (Mark), Aibhilin, Roisin, Dominic, Lance; and great grandchildren Nora, Rowan, Scarlett, Sofia and Sawyer; nephew Michael, nieces Karen (Phil deceased), Audra and also his brother-in-law and friend John R. Chambers (Liz), sister-in-law Gail Chambers; and many nieces and nephews in the United States. Predeceased by his sister Karen Holt (Bill) and their son Billy.

Lars is also survived by Lynn Nolan, his companion for 42 years, and Lynn’s family, daughter Kelly, and sons Jason (Yuka) and Danny (deceased 1995), grandchildren Siobhan (Sunil), and Charlie (Mary).

Lars was thankful for the excellent medical care he received at KGH (Dr. Lui and Doctor Matthews were very special to him) and at Hotel Dieu, Providence Care Hospital and Providence Transitional Care, as well as the care he received from the PSWs, physical & occupation, therapists, and nurses who provided home care.

Lars had a long, complete and varied life and said he would die happy and contented, ever so thankful for all his family and friends, and those others one meets in a long, eventful life. His love goes out to his family, extended family, and all those who were so special to him.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Queen’s University Club, 168 Stuart Street, Kingston on Saturday July 12 at 2 pm. If desired, donations can be made to either Kingston’s Partners in Mission Food Bank, or Martha’s Table Kingston, contact: marthastable.ca