Edward Thompson (FDNY Commissioner)

Edward Thompson (July 19, 1913 – August 5, 1995) was appointed the 19th Fire Commissioner of the City of New York by Mayor Robert F. Wagner on January 1, 1962, and served in that position until his resignation on August 6, 1964.^[1] The FDNY has named a medal for Outstanding Courage in his honor.^[2]

Biography

He was born in Queens, New York on July 19, 1913, to Herman Thompson and Gertrude Emma Baatz. While attending the Brooklyn Law School in 1936 he became a probationary firefighter, later being promoted to a lieutenant in a hook-and-ladder company. In 1938 Mayor Fiorello La Guardia appointed him as an assistant legal counsel to the New York City Fire Department where he prosecuted fire-code violators.^[3]

He was appointed the 19th New York City Fire Commissioner by Mayor Robert F. Wagner on January 1, 1962, and he served in that position until his resignation on August 6, 1964.^[1]

He died on August 5, 1995, in Babylon, New York of cancer.^[3]

References

1. Bennett, Charles G. (August 6, 1964). "Chief Fire Marshal Is Named City's New Fire Commissioner; Scott to Succeed Thompson, Who Has Resigned to Seek Queens Judgeship". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-25. Mayor Wagner appointed Chief Fire Marshal Martin Scott as the city's new Fire Commissioner yesterday. He succeeds Edward Thompson, who has resigned to run for Supreme Court justice in Queens.
2. "2005 Awards". New York City. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
3. Saxon, Wolfgang (August 9, 1995). "Edward Thompson, 82, Judge And Former Fire Commissioner". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-25. Edward Thompson, a lawyer and firefighter's son who became a New York City Fire Commissioner as well as a judge, died on Saturday at his home in Babylon, L.I. He was 82. The cause was cancer, his family said.