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2020 SESSION

20102235D
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 93
Offered February 19, 2020
Celebrating the life of Michael Thompson, Sr.
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Patron-- Freitas
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WHEREAS, Michael Thompson, Sr., an influential public policy expert, a successful businessman, and a beloved member of the Fairfax County community, died on September 7, 2019; and

WHEREAS, shortly after moving to Fairfax County in 1970, Michael Thompson founded the Thompson Creative Marketing Group, a nationally recognized marketing and public affairs company that he sold after 24 prosperous years; and had success in business as president of Mather Furniture Company, a family-owned business based in Georgia; and

WHEREAS, Michael Thompson’s next venture was the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, an organization that had an outsized influence in shaping Virginia’s approach to education and government reform, environmental stewardship, and economic development, which he co-founded and served as president and chairman until 2019; and

WHEREAS, although never serving in public office, Michael Thompson was an influential figure within the Republican Party for years; after serving on the party’s State Central Committee, as Springfield District Chairman for the Fairfax County Republican Committee, and as an informal advisor to countless politicians, Campaigns & Elections magazine recognized him as one of the 30 most influential non-elected Republicans in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, several organizations benefited from Michael Thompson’s masterful leadership experience, including the Virginia Leadership Council and the National Federation of Independent Business, for which he served on Virginia’s Board of Directors; and

WHEREAS, over the years, Michael Thompson served the Commonwealth on several state commissions; he was on the Virginia Attorney General’s Regulation Reform Commission from 2008 to 2009, a member of Governor Robert F. McDonnell’s transition team in 2009, special advisor to the Governor’s Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring from 2010 to 2014, and a gubernatorial appointee to the Small Business Environmental Compliance Advisory Board; and

WHEREAS, impactful at the local level, Michael Thompson served three terms as president of the Springfield District Council, which represents over 200 homeowners’ associations; member of the Executive Committee of the Fairfax Federation of Civic Associations, which oversees all homeowners’ associations in Fairfax; and co-founder of the Occoquan Watershed Coalition; and

WHEREAS, Michael Thompson will be dearly remembered and greatly missed by his wife, Kit; his children, Michael, Jr., and Liza; and numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Delegates hereby note with great sadness the loss of Michael Thompson, Sr., a natural-born leader whose vision influenced and inspired many; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Michael Thompson, Sr., as an expression of the House of Delegates’ respect for his memory.