Missionary, politician Robert Thompson dies
Earned respect in Ethiopia and Canada.
By Lloyd Mackey Special to ChristianWeek
LANGLEY, BC–Robert Norman Thompson, the only surviving leader of what has been dubbed the "house of minorities," died in Langley November 16 at age 83.
Thompson, a Christian who constantly worked at integrating personal faith and political interest, was leader of the national Social Credit party in the 1960s.
In 1968, Thompson became a Conservative and, in effect, rolled the considerable Social Credit support in western Canada into the Tory fold.
Robert Thompson’s life was a blending of faith, education and politics. Born in Duluth on May 17, 1914, of Canadian parents, he taught in Alberta before World War II introduced him to a significant 16 years in Ethiopia. He went there as an Air Force pilot, a role that led to his heading up the Ethiopian Air Force Academy.
Thompson became a confidante of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, who appointed him de facto minister of education. After rebuilding the nation’s public school system following the war, he stayed on for several more years in the dual role as Selassie advisor and Sudan Interior Mission worker.
Returning to Canada in 1957, he picked up on an interest in Social Credit which he had developed before the war, under the influence of William Aberhart, Alberta’s Socred premier from 1935 to 1943. Thompson assumed the national Socred leadership in 1959.
As one of the founders of Trinity Western University, Thompson played a key role in its early development. At various times he was board of governors chair, vice-president of development and political science professor. His archives are housed in TWU’s Norma Marion Alloway library.
