Michael William Edward Thompson

Shorewood, MN - Michael W, age 80, suffered a fall and a subsequent stroke. He spent the next 9 months in the company of loved ones, in the long goodbye. His soul exited this big and beautiful life on May 15, 2025. Michael was born to Ernest and Beatrice Thompson on January 14th, 1945, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Richfield High School and earned his BA in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota and Saint Cloud. He was awarded a Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary: after which he followed his childhood idol, Reuben Youngdahl of Mount Olivet Church-into the ministry. While earning his degrees, he drove ambulance on the night shift. An exciting and harrowing experience, which he credited for both his calm under pressure and his lifelong exceptional driving and navigational skills. With a young family of 6 to support, Michael soon pivoted and threw his hat into the more lucrative Real Estate ring. Over the years he sold and managed for his mentor Phil Smaby at Bermel Smaby, managed for Burnet and partnered with Harvey Hansen. He ultimately landed in sales for Edina Realty 50th and France where he worked the Twin Cities Market and the North Shore. Michael had an expansive business network and worked with everyone from friends and family--to local and national celebrities and numerous titans of industry. Mike liked to credit his sales success to his Socratic soft-sell method of sales; a form of guided decision-making learned in his philosophy undergrad days. For many years, first on his own and later with his high-powered mid-career business partner: Mike was among the best-of-the-best in the Twin Cities Market. Michael's life was one filled with a myriad of passions. A life-long learner, he loved travel, politics, history, classic cars and vintage boats, good food and great music and time with friends and family. No one could tell a story like Mike. Banter was his favorite form of communication. Endlessly social, Mike actively served his community for decades. First on the board of Augsburg College - and later with a core group of friends as a cook at Mount Olivet's Cathedral of the Pines Camp just steps away from his home on Caribou Lake in Lutsen--and also as an usher at the Minneapolis campus. Over the years he spent social time at ECC, the Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club, and his beloved Minneapolis Torske Klubben. One of the original vacation property investors during the mid-century expansion of Naples Florida, Michael spent the majority of his adult life in Edina, Minnesota. However, all who knew and loved Mike, knew that the great love and the seat of his soul --was in Lutsen. In his third act, Michael spent 17 years enjoying life with his partner and wife Michele, and her four young "bonus" children from a prior marriage. Preceded in death by beloved parents Ernest and Beatrice Thompson, brother Richard Ekelund and cousin-in-law James Erhart. Survived by wife Michele, Sister Kay Henderson, beloved puppy, North, Children Paul Thompson (Shari), Mara Embry (Adrian), Philip Thompson (Christine Johnson), Anna Thompson (Stephen Gosala); and Andrew (Jenny Lockhart), Lauren (Joe Lemke), Colin, and Payton Dobin. Grandchildren: Mirina and Gunnar Thompson, Gia Gosala and Mason Dobin. Numerous Nieces and nephews and countless treasured lifelong loves and friends. Celebration of Life to be announced later this summer. Memorial gifts to the Cathedral of the Pines Camp Scholarship Fund through Mount Olivet Church, Minneapolis.

Tributes

Michael William Edward Thompson

January 14, 1945 - May 15, 2025

Tributes

Michael William Edward Thompson

January 14, 1945 - May 15, 2025

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