Guest Posts on County 10 are provided by contributors and the opinions, thoughts, and comments within are their own and may not necessarily reflect those of County 10.
It’s one of the best scenes from an outstanding film, “Field of Dreams.” As Ray Kinsella and Terence Mann question the editor of the local newspaper in Chisolm, Minnesota about a beloved, but departed physician in the small town she reads this excerpt of a story she wrote decades before.
“At times children could not afford eyeglasses or milk or clothing. Yet no child was ever denied these essentials, because, in the background there was always Dr. Graham.
“Without any fanfare or publicity, the glasses or the milk, or the ticket to the ball game found their way into the child’s pocket.”
At the end of the trail in pursuit of “Moonlight” Graham, the duo feels defeated.
“Half the towns in North America have a Doc Graham,” Mann says.
Shoshoni had one too, in fact they have many, but we lost one last week after a prolonged illness.
My friend Eugene Thompson, I can’t call him Eugene, he’s been Geno to me and to everyone who knew him for decades, passed away last week.
Geno was that guy when it came to kids.
The big man with the bigger grin, he loved the kids of Fremont County. Whether it was 4H, the county fair, football, volleyball, wrestling or even basketball. Geno was in the stands watching, supporting and cheering on the kids, no matter what the age or the sport. But he was a little more particular with wrestling.
Geno freely tossed 50- and 100-dollar bills into collection jars if a child was in trouble. He never let on that he was doing it, but many of us knew.
One time when he’d donated a lot of money for a kid with medical issues I pulled him aside to thank him.
He gave me a stern look, then that grin popped out and he said, “You don’t have to tell everything you know.” No, I didn’t, and it was our secret.
Geno was a fixture at the Riverton Livestock Auction with his brother Warren. We buy and sell cattle a couple of times a year and each time I walked into the sales ring, I took a seat next to Geno. He was always fun to talk to, knew everything that was going on and often asked me for the inside scoop on things I knew about. It was hard not to have a good time when you were around Geno Thompson.
One memorable meeting we had with Geno was not so much fun.
One of his boys was having a little trouble in school, nothing major, but enough that dad was concerned and he called a meeting with the principal and his son’s teachers.
We were told there was a parent meeting in the office after school one day and we all showed up. There was Geno, Phyllis and the son in question.
Tim Ervin and I didn’t have the boy in class, though we’d had him in classes during previous years.
As the meeting began, Tim and I tried to bow out, explaining there must have been a mistake since we weren’t his teachers that year.
With the most concerned tone I ever heard from Geno he said, “No you don’t but he respects you two and I know you won’t hurt him but you’ll get his attention. The next time he pulls a stunt I want you guys to pop him right in the mouth.”
Frontier justice in action with a concerned father.
Of course we couldn’t hit the boy, but Geno gave us the go ahead. He was serious.
The stunned principal quickly ended the meeting.
The good news is all five of Gene and Phyllis’ kids have turned out to be tremendous adults. They’re successful, hard-working and leaders in their respective fields. Danica, Dax, Courtney, Kolby and Ryan are all assets to their communities and Geno never tired of telling me about their success.
Though I never saw it, there was a legend in the “Valley” as teachers and students refer to Shoshoni kids who live in Missouri, Paradise and Hidden Valleys, that the Thompsons had a wrestling mat in the basement.
Geno would have training sessions, bouts and play king of the mat long after practice was over.
Maybe someone can verify this legend in the comments.
Another legend is how well the four boys wrestled for the Wranglers, Dax, Courtney, Kolby and Ryan all had excellent high school wrestling careers. If they’d had high school girls wrestling when Danica went through Shoshoni as they do now, I’m sure she would have been a contender as well.
Geno had opinions, strong opinions on some subjects, but his outlook on children and teenagers never reflected anything but the best. He was a fan of the kids, not just the ones from Shoshoni, but throughout Fremont County and well beyond.
While I only dropped in at the sale barn a couple of times a year for business, I drove down many more times each year to get the lunch special, burger and fries from kitchen. The best in Fremont County in my opinion.
I’d order, then beeline it for the ring and almost always I’d grab a seat next to Geno, and usually Warren as well.
Watching them work as cattle buyers with Warren’s glasses on the edge of his nose and Geno laughing as if he weren’t paying attention was a study in the cattle industry. These guys knew their business and with just a flick of the finger or even a raised eyebrow, Geno would buy a load of steers for someone in Kansas, Nebraska or maybe Big Piney.
He was a man of many talents, many interests and many facets. He knew how to raise and market cattle, but more importantly, he knew how to raise kids, his own and those in the community around him.
The sale barn, the gym and the stands just won’t be the same without that big grin and boisterous voice.
Terence Mann was right, “Half the towns in North America did have a Doc Graham.”
The Wranglers had one for a long, long time, everyone called him Geno.