Obituary of Allen Thompson

Allen “Big Al” Thompson passed away on January 16, 2021 at the age of 77 in Canton, NY after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He stayed strong until the end. Allen a native of Tupper Lake, NY was born on September 4, 1943, the son of Howard and Lorraine Boucher Thompson. He graduated from Tupper Lake High School in 1963. In the same year, he received the All Northern Award for his basketball prowess. Following High School, he attended the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology. He served in the Army Reserve at Fort Drum in Watertown, NY starting in November of 1964 and was honorably discharged in October of 1970 as a PVT E-2. On October 29, 1966 he married the love of his life, Joan LaValley. In life Allen was an extremely skilled welder working on much of the infrastructure in Northern NY including the Nuclear Power plants in Oswego, the Navy’s Nuclear Training facility in Saratoga Springs as well as the Bobsled run, Speed Skating Oval and the Hockey Arena in Lake Placid where the “Miracle on Ice” occurred during the 1980 Olympics. He and his Father constructed, mended and fitted many things in Tupper Lake and around the Adirondacks as a team at Thompson and Son Welding. He finished his career welding at the Saranac Inn Work Center for the NYSDEC. Big Al was an accomplished woodsman, successful hunter, trapper and fisherman. In his forties he became highly interested in archery and in 1989 founded the Tupper Lake Archery Club. When the indoor range was built it was dedicated in his name Allen “Watosh” Thompson. Al rarely ever missed his mark! Allen was predeceased by his mother Lorraine (Boucher) Thompson, his father Howard Thompson and his cousin Albert Thompson whom he thought of as a brother. Those left to cherish his memory include his wife of 54 years Joan (LaValley) Thompson, his two sons, Scott and his wife, Tracy (Monette) Thompson, and Kurt Thompson and his wife, Lisa Loncar. A Funeral Mass at St. Alphonsus Holy Name Church along graveside services at St. Alphonsus Cemetery will be held in the spring after the North Country ground decides to thaw! In lieu of flowers the family would prefer donations be sent to the Parkinson’s Foundation. Allen and his humor, kindness and compassion will be missed.