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         So Tommy went to work in the field of vending machines.  “But then the guy I was working for in vending died and his secretary was heir to the company,” he said.  “I bought the company from her.  She knew me and trusted me.  She knew I was a good mechanic.  I was able to buy the business with no down payment, and it included a car with no down payment.  That was my break.  That was the start of my business.  Then I expanded the business and later sold it and retired.”

         The name of Tommy’s business was SirVend.  It was bought out by a national company.  Said Jeanne, “I always say we both worked in foods.  Tommy’s vending machines dispensed company lunches so I say he was in Industrial Feedings and I was in Hospital Feedings.”

***

         “When we lived in Edina with three little kids, somehow we got hooked on water skiing,” said Jeanne.  “Every weekend we trailered our boat around the area.  Then we took a vote -- to quit water skiing or to move to a lake.  That really was the factor, competitive water skiing.  Our kids all became competitive skiers, which means it’s a job.  Tommy would go to work, and I’d take the kids water skiing.  I drove the boat.  One time our oldest son yelled at me because he didn’t think I was doing it right and I made him swim home across the Bay, but I kept a lookout for him.  He never yelled at me again.  Today they make boats and motors that are not so dependent on the driver.”

         In any case, the unanimous vote of the family -- mom, dad, and the three kids were all skiers -- was to move to a lake so they didn’t have to trailer a boat, find a lake, and get the boat on and off the lake.  They didn’t discover Smithtown Bay right away. 

         “We hunted a long time, months and months,” said Jeanne.  “We needed something we could afford and this looked like it would work.  It seemed we had the whole bay to ourselves.    Tommy and I were skiers and everything we knew, we taught our children.  They learned it all and then went beyond that to learn more.”

         Jeanne said that in 1959, when they found Smithtown Bay, there was only one other house on their side of Smithtown Terrace and only two homes across the street.  It has been a full blown neighborhood for some time now with many docks on Lake Minnetonka. 

         “It was very rural when we moved here,” she said.  “Our address was Rural Route #1.”

         Added Tommy, “We had to go up to Highway 7 to pick up the mail.”

         Said Jeanne, “There had been farms in this area.  People were being attracted to the lake for many reasons including the Excelsior Amusement Park and the Dance Hall next to the Park.  When we were in high school, we’d go dancing and then during intermission we’d go to the Amusement Park and ride the roller coaster.  None of that is there anymore.”

         Another bonus that came with finding a home at Smithtown Bay was finding a church nearby.  “We attended Holy Cross Lutheran Church for many years and then all of sudden it disintegrated, which was very sad for us,” said Jeanne.  “We had become family and we knew everyone.  Now we are Episcopalians again.  We joined Trinity Episcopalian in Excelsior.  That church has been there a very long time.”

         She added, “Tommy was a lifelong Lutheran.  After Holy Cross closed and we were searching for another church, he said it was my turn.  I grew up Episcopalian.”

         But it was the lake that drew the Thompsons.  “And the kids needed that total cooperation of the parents for competitive skiing,” explained Jeanne.  “It was a competition.  Every weekend we took them to competitions, from the West Coast to the East Coast.”

 

Click here to continue “Surprised by Seventy.”

The Victoria GAZETTE

June 2014

Tommy and Jeanne on top of the Foshay Tower in Minneapolis.