Jack Thompson was born at Shoal Lake, Manitoba on September 30, 1919. Thompson played minor and senior ball at Shoal Lake, before serving with the Winnipeg Rifles from 1940-45 in Britain and France. Following the war, he coached minor ball in St. James from the 1950s to ’60s. From 1973-82, he served on the Manitoba Baseball Association board of directors, and from 1976-77 he was president of the Winnipeg Minor Baseball Association. Thompson went on to be vice-president of the Manitoba Junior Baseball League (1983-84), a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Kansas City Royals, and a member of the Manitoba Baseball Association Honour Society (1984). In 1985, Thompson started using his own P.A. system to announce minor, junior, and provincial tournaments, which led to him becoming known as the “Voice of Baseball in Winnipeg”.
