Wednesday, November 12, 2025
I am sorry to learn today of Lee's (Ben's) passing. He was Lee when I first met him as the addition of "Ben" didn't arrive until he went off to South Collegiate.. We grew up opposite one another on Victor St., he at number 73 and myself at 64. I have fond memories of many hours spent in the Thompson home - usually Lee's attic bedroom or the basement where we had disassembled his Austin-Healey Sprite.Lee's bedroom window overlooked Belvedere Park and I have a clear recollection of him, on hearing his mother coming up the stairs, firing a lit cigarette through a pea shooter into the park below. That bedroom window was also a perch, from which we regularly fired his pellet rifle at the various and sundry targets that presented in the adjacent green space. I can see Lee's mom in my mind's eye, on what seemed like her daily walk to Les' Variety on Wharncliffe Rd. and returning with cigarettes and a six pack of Coca Cola in the little glass bottles. Lee's grandfather (Mr. Lee?) lived with them. A very nice man. I remember Mr. Thompson's black Oldsmobile which was was a definite step up from the usual Chevrolet's and Pontiac's on the rest of the street. It was a great place to grow up and Lee in those years was a great friend. My condolences to Lee's wife and to Vicki and her family. Sincerely, John Welsh
