Ad man Tommy Thompson had sense of adventure

Clarence (Tommy) Thompson retired as CEO of the Colle & McVoy advertising agency in 1994 after a career that included dodging bullets and risking his neck on a snowmobile.

He died on Jan. 22 in Waconia, Minn., of cancer. He was 78.

In 1980, Thompson was in the South American nation of Suriname, planning vacation packages for a client, Suriname Airlines. One morning, he awoke to bursts of gunfire that signaled an army coup.

His grabbed his camera and photographed the action.

On the street, an army sergeant ordered a soldier to shoot him, Thompson recounted in a 1994 column for the Star Tribune.

Thompson told his would-be executioner, "Your mother would not want you to do this," and began to back away.

It worked. The young soldier lowered his weapon, and Thompson turned and sprinted for his hotel.

He gunned the snowmobile up a steep slope to the summit, stopping on a flat spot to view the valley below.

But the perch turned out to be a huge snowdrift and as his machine began to slide down the mountain, Thompson said a prayer, hit the throttle and made it safely back to solid ground.

"But I had nightmares about that for months," he said.

Thompson was born in Amery, Wis., at the beginning of the Great Depression.

In the 1930s, he moved to Montana, where his father found a job operating a steam shovel in a gold-mining operation. Thompson remembered panning for gold in Prickly Pear Creek near Helena to help pay the family bills and hunting to put meat on the table.

At the University of Wisconsin in Madison, he supported himself by milking university-owned cows and goats. He earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural journalism.

In 1951, he was commissioned an officer in the Air Force and served in intelligence until 1953.

Next came a stint with General Mills. He joined Colle & McVoy as a copy writer in 1957.

Keith Olson of Chanhassen, a retired Colle & McVoy executive, said Thompson was bright, had common sense and high energy.

"He was a straight-shooter," said Olson. "A number of times I saw company presidents recognize that and come to him for advice outside of advertising."

He came up with the slogan, Explore Minnesota, according to the 1994 Star Tribune column.

His son Michael of Litchfield said that even during trying times, he remained upbeat.

"He was a very, very outgoing, friendly and positive person," said his son. "When he worked with his people, he was as much their friend as their colleague."

After retirement in 1994, he had more time to fish and travel. He was a SCORE counselor, helping people get started in small businesses.

He was divorced from Jeannine Oppenheimer, who died in 2007.