In Memoriam: Terry Thompson, Esq.
Terry Thompson served on the board of Life Legal for over twenty-five years, until his death in February, 2024. Terry brought his exemplary legal and business skills to the board, having experience in executive management and in law.
Terry was engaged in pro bono legal work since the late 1990’s, including First Amendment defense of pro-life sidewalk counselors, opposition to embryonic stem cell research and same sex marriage and adoption litigation as well as business law and estate planning. He gained a passion for the plight of the unborn as a result of his participation in street activism and sidewalk counseling in front of abortion mills.
Terry and his wife Dee previously published The Valley Citizen, a local monthly magazine that was distributed to 33,000 homes in the Danville, Alamo and San Ramon area of Contra Costa County. The magazine focused on traditional values and conservative thought.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, Terry had a successful engineering career. He was with Bechtel Corporation for 16 years and served as Manager of Engineering and Manager of Business Development for North and South America in their Pipeline Division.
Following that, he was co-founder of an international engineering company, Pipeline Systems Inc., which specialized in the design of long distance slurry pipelines, and helped build that company into the leader in its field.
Terry earned a Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, a Masters in Business Administration from Case Western Reserve University and Juris Doctor degree from John F. Kennedy University. In addition to the Life Legal board, Terry was a member of the Board of Directors of California Right to Life, The Danville Community Band, and served as Chairman of the Macedonian Outreach, a Christian non-profit focusing on the Balkans. He was also an Elder in the Danville Presbyterian Church. The Thompsons have three married daughters, Jill, Kelly and Lori, and six grandchildren.
We will miss Terry’s wisdom, humility, and sense of humor. Terry’s obituary is available here. Read more about Terry’s pro-life legal work here.