Sun executive dies in crash

Ed Koch and Keith Paul

Friday, Aug. 9, 2002 | 11:37 a.m.

Las Vegas Sun Associate Editor Sandra "Sandy" Thompson, an ardent and compassionate family rights advocate whose award-winning column changed state guardianship laws, was killed today in an automobile accident. She was 54.

Thompson was killed in a four-vehicle crash on Interstate 215 at Far Hills Avenue when her car was hit from behind about 7:30 a.m., according to the Nevada Highway Patrol.

She was stopped at a red light behind a pickup truck and a flat-bed semi truck when a sport utility vehicle came up behind at a high rate of speed, and the driver hit the brakes and apparently lost control, NHP Trooper Jim Olschlager said.

The SUV hit the dividing wall and then crashed into the back of Thompson's Toyota Camry, pushing it into and under the pickup truck.

Thompson died at the scene. John Simbrat, the 21-year-old driver of the SUV, was taken to University Medical Center where he was listed in serious condition. The driver of the other two vehicles were uninjured.

The drivers of both trucks told the NHP that they did not hear any squeal of brakes before impact.

The accident remains under investigation, but Olschlager said the SUV driver appeared to be driving "well over the posted" 45 mph speed limit.

The pickup truck driver, Kevin Parsons, said at first he did not realize that Thompson's car was under his pickup. He tried to get her out but wasn't able to get the door open.

"Just sitting at a light and your life takes a sudden turn," he said.

Shocked colleagues and community leaders remembered Thompson this morning for her work at the newspaper and in the community.

Thompson's duties as vice president and associate editor of the Sun included organizing the Sun's community service work, encompassing activities from the Sun Youth Forum to projects that repaired the homes of disadvantaged seniors.

Brian Greenspun, president and editor of the Sun, called it tragic, "both personally and professionally."

"Not only was Sandy Thompson one of the great, great assets of the Las Vegas Sun, she was also a treasured asset of the community," he said. "Over the last few years she found a niche with her writing, her reporting and her community involvement that served countless thousands of young children who had no voice but for hers.

"I know her proudest achievements are her daughter, Kelly, and her lifelong friend and husband, Gary, to whom our hearts go out. We will miss her. The community will miss her. And the Las Vegas Sun will have a very difficult time trying to replace her."

Gov. Kenny Guinn called Thompson "one of the kindest, one of the most thoughtful journalists in the state."

"She was a talented writer and editor and a passionate children's advocate," Guinn said. "Her viewpoint will be greatly missed."

Sun Chairman Mike O'Callaghan worked with Thompson for more than 23 years.

"Every day she had a new concern about the needs of our community and how we could help our children experience a better life," he said. "Her love for them knew no bounds. The Sun Youth Forum of 2002 should be dedicated to her memory."

Thompson, who joined the Sun in 1978 as a copy editor and later was features editor and then was managing editor for 11 years, was the paper's foremost expert on Family Court issues. She worked tirelessly for justice within the court system, especially with cases involving children.

Through her reporting and Sunday column, she inspired many reforms within the system as a whole and brought justice and relief for many families and individuals.

In 1997, the Nevada State Press Association awarded Thompson Story of the Year honors and Best News Feature Writing for her coverage of "A Family Torn," about how a Las Vegas couple lost guardianship of their daughter to her boyfriend's parents.

The contest judges called it "a great instance of reporting ... a bizarre story, well handled." The story prompted a Family Court judge to reverse his decision and also resulted in a change by the 1997 Nevada Legislature in the state statutes on guardianship notification.

The response to the column led to a three-month investigation by the Sun and an award-winning series, "Family Court: Out of Order."

"She did a great job of advocating for children," Clark County Family Court Judge Gerald Hardcastle said. "In Family Court I think it made all the judges introspective about how they did their job. She was one of those people we could confide in. She kept us all on the right track."

For years, Thompson held meetings in her office with people who were struggling through the court. Even if she did not write a column about a particular incident, visitors praised her for just lending a sympathetic ear caught up in the often impersonal world of the courts.

UNLV journalism professor Mary Hausch said she became friends with Thompson after Hausch stepped down as managing editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"We had a lot of mutual respect for each other as competitors and as women coming up in a male-dominated business," Hausch said.

Thompson recently completed her term as president of CLASS! a monthly publication for young journalists in Clark County high schools.

Hausch said the two worked together on the publication and also helped raise scholarship money and mentor up-and-coming journalists.

"Maybe one of her legacies were the young journalists who received help from her without ever knowing Sandy was behind it," she said.

Greg Bortolin, spokesman for Guinn, called Thompson one of the "longtime voices" of local journalism and "a conscience of the Las Vegas Sun. It's a tragic loss for Las Vegas journalism."

Thom Reilly, Clark County manager, worked with Thompson on child welfare as a child welfare administrator for Nevada and as a UNLV professor in social work.

Thompson was key in the fight to provide attorneys for children involved in child abuse, neglect and domestic violence cases, Reilly said. She consistently pushed to improve court policies so that children were better treated.

"She was a passionate advocate on behalf of children," Reilly said. "This is a tremendous loss for the community. Of any columnist she stood alone as the one who was the voice of children, putting it in the news and in front of the community."

County Commissioner Myrna Williams, also heavily involved in child welfare issues, said the work Thompson has done on behalf of children in the state cannot be measured. In addition to working on legislative issues, Thompson was a mentor to high school journalists, Williams said.

"She was a brilliant woman with a heart so big you couldn't even guess the size of it," Williams said. "The loss to this community, to this state, is incalculable."

Thompson became managing editor of the Sun in August 1986, a month after being named assistant managing editor. Before that, she served six years as editor of the features section, then called Horizons, now called Accent.

She was promoted to vice president and associate editor five years ago.

Her duties included director of the Sun Youth Forum. She also worked on the Sun Camp Fund, and with the organizations Christmas in April, the Children's Advocacy Alliance and Raising Nevada.

Thompson was a past president and former board member of the Nevada State Press Association. She was chairwoman of the Clark County Mother of the Year Awards Committee and president of the Cimarron-Memorial High School Band Boosters.

Thompson was dedicated to high school journalism, acting as the Sun's coordinator for the student newspaper program known as CLASS!

She worked directly with the student journalists, often bringing them to the Sun for meetings with editors. She helped organize and judge the annual newspaper contest. She enlisted many of the Sun's editors and reporters as she worked to provide the students with insight into the newspaper business.

A 1970 graduate of Penn State University, Thompson worked several years as a news reporter in western Pennsylvania; at the Danbury, Conn., News-Times; and as a feature writer in New York.

Survivors include her husband Gary Thompson, also a former Sun managing editor, and her daughter Kelly Thompson, a recent graduate of the University of Southern California.

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