Brannon Thomas ""Bran"" Thompson

1937 - 2013

Brannon Thomas Thompson, 75, of Middletown, MD passed away Sunday, surrounded by family, on September 22, 2013. Born November 9, 1937, in Pittsburgh, PA, he was the son of Wesley and Margaret Thompson. He was the husband of Carolyn Pegher Thompson, who he married on October 26th, 1963. Bran grew up in Bakerstown, PA and enlisted in the US Army out of high school.


Bran was the loving father of David Thompson (wife Dana), Mary Lee (Thompson) Quealy (husband Mike), and Ken Thompson (wife Shawn). Bran is survived by sister Irene Thompson Petasnick, and grandchildren Ashley, Jaeger, Kelly, Michael, Joey, Lilli, and Buckley.

Bran was a member of AMVETS, VFW, American Legion, Ft. Detrick All Service Retiree Council, Major General Boyd Cook Memorial foundation, Inc., Rotary, and Elks.

Bran joined the 101st Airborne after high school for two hitches and then joined the Air Force Reserve where he rose to the rank of Chief Master Sergeant & Senior Enlisted Advisor as the youngest reservist to attain that rank in the history of Air Force Reserve. He also served as Chair, U.S. Air Reserve Forces Enlisted Advisory Panel for the Asst. Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. In 1979 he left the Air Force Reserves with over 24 years of service. He later joined the Army Reserves and finally retired with over 38 years of total service.

Bran was also involved in the Boy Scouts of America, where he was awarded the "Silver Beaver Award," received on the average of one out of a thousand adult Scout Leaders.

In his civilian life, while in the reserves, he was employed as a Federal Government employee and was selected as U.S. Government's International Paper Work Manager of the year with personal congratulations from the president of the United States. Additionally, he chaired a National Computer Security Committee for the Office of Management & Budget, Executive Office of the President when he was U.S. Food & Drug Administration's National Computer Security Officer and Special Agent. He retired from the government in 1986 as U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission National Director of Investigations. After he retired he then began another career as Regional Vice President/Instructor for Dale Carnegie Training where he was a National Project Manager and earned various regional and national awards to include "Maryland Dale Carnegie Instructor of the year."

Visitation will be at Donald B. Thompson Funeral Home in Middletown, MD from 2 – 4 pm and from 6-8 pm Wednesday, September 25th. Funeral services will be held at Holy Family Catholic Community Church, 7321 Burkittsville Rd. in Middletown, MD at 11 am Thursday, September 26th.Msgr. Robert J. Jaskot will officiate. Interment will be at St. John's Cemetery at 112 E. 2nd Street, Frederick, MD immediately following services.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Bran's name to the American Heart Association at donate.americanheart.org, Wounded Warrior Project at woundedwarriorproject.org, or Boyd S. Cook Foundation at mgbc-md.org.