Mr. Earl J (Tommy) Thomson,Jr. and Mrs. Margaret C. (Margie) Thomson
(Posthumous recognition and induction of Mrs. Thomson)
Margie and Tommy were married in May 1951 in College Park, Maryland. In 1956, they re-located to Denver, Colorado, where they became active members of Park Hill Methodist Church. Both sang in the church choir. While Tommy became involved in mission outreach, Margie had her hands full at home caring for four small children.
Tommy felt called to become a missionary after attending the annual meeting of the Board of Missions held in Buckhill Falls, Pennsylvania in January 1960. He applied to the Board of Missions, but his application was rejected for health reasons. At about this same time, Margie and Tommy helped to launch a new Methodist congregation in Littleton called St. Andrews Methodist Church.
Shortly thereafter, Margie and Tommy re-located to Vista, California, where they immediately found membership in the local Methodist church and joined the choir. Margie continued her role as primary caretaker of the couple's now five children while also taking on several church responsibilities: treasurer, secretary of the administrative board, chair of the UMW Circle, then president of the UMW. Tommy's enthusiasm for missions never waned despite his earlier disappointment. He chaired the church's missions committee, served on the Conference Board of Missions for 12 years, and he was the San Diego District Missions Secretary for 6 years.
In 1998, a friend told Margie and Tommy about a VIM team that was planning a trip to Africa University the following year. They immediately signed on as this was the area of Africa where they would have been assigned had not Tommy's application been rejected thirty-seven years earlier. It was love at first sight for Margie and Tommy---not only with Africa University, but also with the Methodist Mission site located across the road from the university.
When a member of the Thomsons' church passed away and left the church a substantial bequest, Tommy successfully petitioned the Church Conference to establish an endowed scholarship fund in the amount of $100,000.00 at Africa University. Margie passed away in 2012, but Tommy has remained engaged with Africa University and supportive of its transforming ministry. Rather than leave a deferred gift to Africa University, Tommy said, "I enjoy giving it now and watching the wonderful results our students are having and the great progress AU is making not only for the benefit of the students but also for all of Africa."