Dr. Van Denman Thompson was born in the town Of Potter Place, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. He was the son of Burt Fenton Thompson, a storekeeper, bookkeeper, and post master in the town of Webster Town and Wilmot Flats, in New Hampshire, and his mother, Caroline Callie Berry Morey. Dr. Thompson was a concert organist and composer. Highly self-educated he began his musical career at the age of ten, composing his first works of music. He then attended Colby Academy, Harvard University, and the New England Conservatory of Music. He taught at Woodland College in Jonesboro, Arkansas for a year before coming to DePauw University in September 1911. While teaching at DePauw, Dr. Thompson earned his M. B. from Lincoln-Jefferson University, an Honorary Degree from DePauw University, and a Fellowship award from the American Guild of Organists at the age of twenty-nine. He became the Director of the DePauw School of Music in 1939 and remained in that position until his retirement in 1956. A nationally renowned organist and composer, Dr. Thompson published one-hundred-twenty-five musical works. His oratorio, "The Evangel of the New World", composed in 1934, was composed for the one-hundred and fifty year anniversary of the Methodist in America. Dr. Thompson was Organist for the Gobin Methodist Church and College Avenue Church in Greencastle, Indiana. He was a humerous and humble man, who enjoyed his greenhouse full of flowers, especially orchids. Dr. Thompson married Eula Mai Bogle on April 14, 1911 in Arkansas. They were blessed with seven children. One is still living. The others were: Gwendolyn Thompson Crawley, Van Denman Thompson Jr., Constance F. Thompson, Winston C. Thompson, Cynthia Lowell Thompson Bartley, and Patience Thompson Berg.
Dr. Van Denman Thompson was born in the town Of Potter Place, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. He was the son of Burt Fenton Thompson, a storekeeper, bookkeeper, and post master in the town of Webster Town and Wilmot Flats, in New Hampshire, and his mother, Caroline Callie Berry Morey. Dr. Thompson was a concert organist and composer. Highly self-educated he began his musical career at the age of ten, composing his first works of music. He then attended Colby Academy, Harvard University, and the New England Conservatory of Music. He taught at Woodland College in Jonesboro, Arkansas for a year before coming to DePauw University in September 1911. While teaching at DePauw, Dr. Thompson earned his M. B. from Lincoln-Jefferson University, an Honorary Degree from DePauw University, and a Fellowship award from the American Guild of Organists at the age of twenty-nine. He became the Director of the DePauw School of Music in 1939 and remained in that position until his retirement in 1956. A nationally renowned organist and composer, Dr. Thompson published one-hundred-twenty-five musical works. His oratorio, "The Evangel of the New World", composed in 1934, was composed for the one-hundred and fifty year anniversary of the Methodist in America. Dr. Thompson was Organist for the Gobin Methodist Church and College Avenue Church in Greencastle, Indiana. He was a humerous and humble man, who enjoyed his greenhouse full of flowers, especially orchids. Dr. Thompson married Eula Mai Bogle on April 14, 1911 in Arkansas. They were blessed with seven children. One is still living. The others were: Gwendolyn Thompson Crawley, Van Denman Thompson Jr., Constance F. Thompson, Winston C. Thompson, Cynthia Lowell Thompson Bartley, and Patience Thompson Berg.
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