J. Dane Thompson

J. Dane Thompson

Oct. 21, 1941 ~ Dec. 3, 2011

MONTEREY, California -- Dane Thompson passed away in Monterey, California, following a short illness which took him from us too soon.

Dane was born in Oxford, Nebraska, the only child of Ralph and Maxine Thompson. Dane's mother had been a teacher and performed with Ruth Kackley and Her Girls, and his father started a local Oxford grocery store. Ralph later relocated his family and opened another grocery store in Alma, Nebraska, where Dane grew up.

Dane joined the US Army at 18 and served 3 1/2 years as a photographer, documenting post-war Germany.

When he returned to the States, Dane settled in McCook, Nebraska, where he started a family. He purchasedBrooks photography studio in 1970, and later renamed it Thompson Photography.

In 1986, Dane moved his family to Monterey and purchased Filmcraft Photography, a photo studio in Carmel.

All his life, photography was his passion. He savored the beauty and detail of the world around him through his lens, and his portraits captured the essence of the people he photographed.

Dane had other passions aside from photography -- his dog and best friend Frasier, good wine, cooking, swimming and riding his bike, being a granddad, Cornhusker football, everything "Nebraska" and what the "Mid-Western" lifestyle represents.

Dane is survived by his two children, Joanne Thompson of Aptos, California, and Jon Thompson of Hollister, California, and his three grandchildren, Hannah, Landon, and Nicholas Thompson, all of Hollister.

Dane was an member of The Carmel Foundation. Please send any memorial donations to The Carmel Foundation P.O. Box 1050, Carmel, CA 93921 or to the SPCA of your choice.