Los Angeles
County
Biographies
WILLARD
E. THOMPSON
KENNETH
and LANELL THOMPSON
The
Hob Nob Coffee Shop, owned by Willard E. Thompson, at 107 North Garfield Avenue
in Monterey Park, is one of the delightful eating places in Monterey Park. Although little more than two years have gone
by since its opening, the Garfield-Garvey area of Monterey Park would not seem
complete without it. It is the ideal
place for a coffee break in mid-morning or mid-afternoon, and has become a
favorite meeting place of the businessmen in the district. From the very first the food was excellent;
the service prompt and courteous. The
modern interior, done in harmonious colors, gives the Hob Nob a relaxing
atmosphere, aided by the newest in air conditioning equipment.
Mr.
Willard E. Thompson, “Bill” to his friends, the friendly host at the Hob Nob,
was born July 7, 1915, in Hastings, Oklahoma.
His father, John H. Thompson, died in 1931. His mother, the former Cora Williams, of
Durant, Oklahoma, is still living in her home town. The father of Willard Thompson was a farmer,
and both of his parents were originally from Texas; there were twelve children
in the Thompson family, nine boys and three girls. Six of the boys and three of the girls are
still living. In his youth young Bill
worked hard on his father’s farm; he attended Lone Star Grade School in
Hastings, Oklahoma, and high school in Waurika, Oklahoma.
Mr.
Thompson came to California in 1935, and worked as an auto mechanic for the
Packard and Dodge dealers in El Monte until 1941. After that he engaged in a number of business
enterprises. He owned and operated a
used car lot in East Los Angeles; for a time he managed a motel, and later a
service station in Monterey Park. Since
1955 he has been in the restaurant business, and for four years he operated K’s
Roundburger at 400 North Atlantic Boulevard.
Then
on November 2, 1959, Willard E. Thompson, his wife, Mary Kay, his son Kenneth,
and his son’s wife, Lanell, went into partnership and opened the Hob Nob Coffee
Shop; Kenneth and Lanell Thompson have done much toward the success of the
restaurant.
Kenneth
Thompson was born September 26, 1940, in Monterey Park. He attended Garvey Grammar School in South
San Gabriel and was a graduate of Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra in 1958,
as was his wife, the former Miss Lanell Newcomb. Kenneth and Lanell were married on January
16, 1959, in the Community Methodist Church in Monterey Park, of which they are
both members. They are the parents of a
son, Craig Eugene, born on May 18, 1960.
Lanell Thompson, a native of Spearman, Texas, has lived in Monterey Park
for eight years; she was born on August 28, 1940. Kenneth Thompson is a former member of the
Monterey Park Exchange Club.
The
senior Mr. Thompson was married to the former Miss Neva Bentley of Hastings,
Oklahoma in 1935. They were divorced in
1944. On November 14, 1947, in Las
Vegas, he was married again, and his wife, Mary Kay Thompson, of Hobart,
Oklahoma, helped to raise his two sons by the former marriage, Billy Eugene and
Kenneth. Besides raising the two sons,
Mrs. Thompson was active in the Monterey Park Opti-Mrs. Club and was a past
president of this organization. She was
also a vital partner in the business. Mrs. Thompson was well known and very well
liked in the community, and her passing has been mourned by her friends.
Willard
E. Thompson is a member of the Monterey Park Chamber of Commerce, has been a
member of the Optimist Club for the last thirteen years, and has belonged to
the Elks of Alhambra, Lodge Number 1328, since 1956. Mr. Thompson and his late wife, Mary Kay,
were members of the Community House of God Church in Los Angeles.
Mr.
Thompson’s elder son, Billy Eugene, was born in Hastings, Oklahoma. He is married to the former Miss Bonnie Marie
Bryant of Whittier. They live in
Monterey Park with their two children, Darrell Eugene, aged five, and Debra
May, aged three.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 574-575, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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