Cecil Brennan Thompson

Friday, Nov. 29, 2019

Cecil B. Thompson passed quickly of a heart attack early Saturday morning, November 16, 2019.

Cecil was born in Los Angeles, California. He was one of five siblings and the third son of proud immigrant parents, Brennan Irwin and Cecily Agatha Thompson, from the island of Bequia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Cecil was raised in their loving home, which provided a solid foundation for the many chapters of his life to come. 

Cecil was a tap dancer and child actor. He was the voice of young Amos on the 1940s radio version of “Amos ‘N’ Andy.” Cecil played the oboe in elementary school and composed music and cut records. His band later played wedding and bar mitzvah gigs. 

Cecil majored in economics, receiving degrees through PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles.  He taught economics at the University of Hawaii, in Manoa and California State College, Fullerton, where he was honored by one of his students with the creation of a scholarship in his name. Cecil later taught managerial economics at the University of Phoenix in Utah.

Cecil served in several capacities with the Federal Energy Administration. He worked for Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City, Missouri in the field of sustainable energy and for SERI (Solar Energy Research Institute) in Golden, Colorado. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Cecil headed a U.S.-Saudi Joint Commission Program to build a solar village and a water desalination plant in Saudi Arabia. 

In 1991 Cecil was appointed by President George H. Bush as a member of the board of directors of the United States Export Import Bank. Cecil became the bank’s first small business director. In 1997 Cecil and Karen moved to Utah, where they pursued a career in real estate as a well-matched team.

Cecil is survived by his wife, Karen Thompson; daughters Nevah Stevenson and Leah Hull; grandchildren Connor Stevenson, Cole Stevenson, Dylan Stevenson, Bennett Hull, Wyatt Hull and Sterling Hull; brothers Irwin Thompson, Sidney Thompson and Denis Thompson; sister Lynne Thompson; and of all their respective families.

 A funeral Mass was celebrated on November 23 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Cecil’s name to a charity of your choice or to the Cecil B. Thompson Award, a scholarship in his honor, at California State University, Fullerton.