Alumni Hall of Fame
Service to St. Marys City Schools (2025)

M. Sue Thompson was born on August 20, 1938, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the eldest daughter of Clarence E. and Thelma M. Thompson. In 1943, the family welcomed a second girl, Sharon Ann. Sue grew up in the small town of Matthews, Indiana where she and neighborhood children explored the banks of the Missisinewa River, climbed the old covered bridge, drank Nehi orange pope, and rode their bikes across cornfields and up to the river bluff. She also loved to read Nancy Drew mysteries, the Bobbsey Twins, The Sugar Creek Gang and Grace Livingston books. In August 1948, her family visited her aunt and uncle in Anderson, Illinois. Sue started to feel fatigued. Nothing alarming at first, but then weeks went by and she continued to grow weaker, despite being given different medications. She had difficulty walking, and her mother had to support her as she walked down the stairs. Two days later, her parents rushed her to Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana, as Sue began gasping for breath.

A spinal tap confirmed everyone’s worst fears. Sue had polio and was placed in an isolation cubicle. She was unable to talk, swallow, or even take a drink because her throat was paralyzed. Polio paralyzes the motor nerves but doesn’t affect the sensory nerves. Sue could feel sensations like pain but she was unable to move her body. Sue, just 10 years old, spent the next two weeks in critical condition. Hospitals in Indiana were overwhelmed and overcrowded with polio patients. Nurses were hard to find, so a family friend, Margaret Shuttleworth, who was a Registered Nurse, worked double shifts to help care for Sue. Doctors were reluctant to put Sue in an iron lung to assist her breathing, fearful that she would be dependent on it for the rest of her life. One day, Sue stopped breathing, and doctors were left with no choice. As they lifted her to put her in the iron lung, she started breathing on her own, so they placed her back in her bed. This was a moment that changed her life.

Later in life, Sue wrote about this time, saying that she wasn’t in pain, but her body was very sore and hypersensitive to touch, and breathing was still a strain on her system. She was not allowed in-person visitors, having to content herself with seeing her parents twice a day through a glass window. She watched other kids going back to school and was depressed that she was missing out on the annual return-to-school ritual that she loved. Little did 10 year-old Sue realize that she would not return to public school for five years.

Sue wrote, “The full realization of what being paralyzed was occurred when I was being transferred to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis for a rehabilitation period. As the ambulance drivers lifted me from the bed to the carrier, one of my arms fell off my chest. They had crossed my arms on my chest to get them out of the way while I was being lifted. I screamed partly from the pain and partly out of stark horror. That was my arm, it was attached to my body, it sent pain searing through my body as it hung limply at my side, but no amount of effort on my part would make that arm move.”

At Riley Hospital, she was placed in a ward with seven other children where doctors offered Sue just thirty minutes of physical treatment five days a week. She endured the intense heat of September, since there was no air conditioning, and was allowed to see her parents for only two hours a week. She wrote about the agonizing treatments where steaming hot packs were wrapped around her thighs, calves, and upper and lower arms. The supreme torture, she wrote, was the hot pack on her back. The head nurse told Sue’s mother that doctors didn’t think they should “waste time” working with Sue when it was easier to work with children with partial paralysis. She also wrote about how doctors and staff dehumanized her, laughing and making jokes about “this mass of protoplasm that was me.” She wrote that she “felt like a naked monkey in a cage…” and “This caged feeling and total lack of any humanity plus the hopelessness of any treatment or hopelessness of any recovery that was openly discussed in front of me was unforgiveable treatment from trained medical professionals.”

Sue developed close friendships with many of the girls in her ward, friends that she remained in contact with long after each went home from the hospital. A picture from that time shows Sue and two other young girls in beds side-by-side hooked up to various machinery. The girls are smiling, as they developed a deep, abiding friendship during their months spent together, a friendship that would last a lifetime with annual reunions and visits. This was a hallmark of who Sue Thompson was even at this young age – she had the keen ability to really get to know people, to develop unbreakable bonds of close and lasting friendships, and to create a support system of wonderful friends and family including her friend, Betty (Sommer) Woodmansee, her niece, Shyla, and her great nephews, Jordan, Camdan,and Ashdan, whom she adored. Sue’s niece shared that Sue helped her tremendously writing college papers, and that she loved teaching her great nephews and helping them with their homework. Sue always insisted that others speak proper English, using gentle corrections to teach lifelong lessons.

The doctors and nurses gave Sue’s parents pessimistic news about her chances of recovery. Sue overheard the doctor saying that she would never be able to sit up again and that her future was bleak. This made her angry. Angry and determined to fight back. When she was discharged in February 1947, she was told to return to the clinic just once every three months. Sue’s mother, Thelma, tried to arrange for physical therapy but the doctors would not recommend it, so Thelma enrolled Sue in swimming lessons at the Y and took her to chiropractic treatment to keep her spine pliable. When she went home, she was able to sit up, feed herself and write, but she couldn’t move around by herself even in a wheelchair. Her mother dressed and bathed her and, most importantly, encouraged her to try anything she wanted, like going back to play outside with her neighborhood friends. Her best friend, Judy, pushed her wheelchair while they once again played hide-and-seek and kick the can, roamed the town, and played in the rain. Sue wrote, “[I]t was the best therapy anyone could have.”

Thelma would not give up on Sue. The March of Dimes and Easter Seal Foundation refused to for physical therapy for Sue since they did not believe she could recover, so Thelma and Clarence paid for it themselves, driving Sue 60 miles one-way to Fort Wayne. Thelma was used to hard work, having grown up the daughter of a coal miner, and passed that work ethic and positive attitude to her children. Sue wrote, “She [her mother] seemed to thrive on hardship, but then she never really felt anything was a hardship. It was just life, and it was there, so we make the best of it. No matter what happened, life had to go on. Mother believes this and lives it. She has a very strong faith, and even though she has had many tragedies in her life, she is the happiest person I know.”

Her father, Clarence, also refused to give up and used his mechanical talent to device a bar that could be attached to her bed or wheelchair to help her change position and strengthen her arms, legs and back. He also devised an exerciser for her legs that turned her legs forty times a minute. She wrote, “After a workout, my legs tingle because of increased blood circulation. His inventions and devices have been quite ingenious and are very useful.”

Sue missed the entire school year in 1948, but Sue’s mother – a teacher herself – tutored her at home. Sue was an excellent student and completed fifth and sixth grade in one year. Sue continued her schooling at home through the end of ninth grade. In 1951, Sue’s father, Clarence, was transferred to the St. Marys Woolen Mills in St. Marys, Ohio. For eighteen months, Clarence worked in St. Marys during the week and then spent the weekends with his family in Matthews, Indiana. In 1953, he moved the family to St. Marys. Sue’s mother initially assumed she would continue with home school lessons with Sue, but St. Marys City Schools Superintendent H.H. Cook and Principal L.L. Hurley suggested that Sue attend Memorial High School. They believed that they could arrange for Sue to get to her classes and that she would enjoy contact with schoolmates. This was a major change in Sue’s life, one that again changed the course of her life.

Sue began her sophomore year at Memorial High School on South Street. She was frightened at first, but she wanted to go. She wrote, “In September 1953, when the school bells rang, I went to school as a sophomore at Memorial High. It is a testimony to my home tutoring that I was able to take my place beside the rest of the class, and I graduated sixth in a class of ninety. Being back in the classroom was so great.” Memorial High School was built in 1923 and had three levels. Fellow classmates carried Sue in her wheelchair from floor to floor and made sure she got to class on time. She stated in a interview that, “I’m so glad that I could go to school – and I can’t say enough in appreciation for everything Mr. Cook, Mr. Hurley, all the teachers and my classmates have done for me – everybody has been so grand.” (“Sue Thompson Wouldn’t Give Up – She Graduated With Honors From Memorial,” The Evening Leader, May 25, 1956) She also thanked her parents, who drove her to and from school and her activities.

At Memorial High School, Sue excelled at both school – where she was an honors student – and in school activities. She attended just half days at first, then switched to full days her junior and senior year. She was the President of the Latin Club and placed as a top scholar in the “Ohio History, Ohio Government, and Citizenship Test.” She was on the Scholarship Team all three years. She was active in Y-Teens where she was selected by fellow students as the Y-Teen of the Year and Queen of the annual dance, and she was in the Future Teachers Club. She graduated from MHS in 1956 with honors.

After high school, Sue worked at the St. Marys Woolen Mills in the office mailing advertisements and saving money to attend college to become a tutor. The Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation refused her request for financial aid, suggesting that Sue instead learn to make baskets or hats to support herself financially. For two years she worked full-time during the day and took night classes at the newly established Western Ohio College, a Celina-based branch of Ohio Northern University based in Ada, Ohio. After two years, she was offered a job teaching at the Auglaize County School for the Mentally Retarded. She did this while pursuing a college degree. It took nine years, but Sue graduated with high honors in June 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in History and Elementary Education. She was selected to the Iota Kappa chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, a national honor society in education, and was on the Student Council and yearbook staff. 

Despite her excellent academic record and work history as a teacher for Auglaize Schools, public schools would not hire her. She was offered a teaching position in New Bremen, but the Superintendent of Schools of Auglaize County blocked her employment because he felt the job would be too hard for her. He refused to even speak with Sue when she called. She wrote about the irony that this same person was the guest speaker at a county church on the topic of, “Give the Handicapped a Helping Hand.” Fortunately for Sue, he resigned soon thereafter, and Sue was hired to teach English at McBroom Junior High School in 1968. When St. Marys City Schools Superintendent, Frank Dennings, asked about whether her handicap would affect her ability to teach, Sue replied, “What handicap?” She was hired. 

Sue wrote that the first year was a “tremendous success.” She knew that she had to succeed and would not get a second chance. “I had always known that I had to be better than average to even be considered. I had worked hard to make the record good. The grades were very high, the attendance was almost perfect, and the recommendations were glowing.” Sue once told a reporter that she felt most relaxed in the classroom. She loved “the spunk of junior high” students. Indeed, Miss Thompson was loved not only by her fellow teachers and administrators, but by her students. Many recall how she inspired in them a love for reading and sparked their interest in Greek and Roman mythology. The school took notice and selected her as one of 12 finalists for the Outstanding Young Educator Award for 1971-72 and 1972-73. Superintendent Frank Dennings presented her with the award in 1973 on behalf of the St. Marys Jaycees. Sue said living in St. Marys was a pleasure, and she shared that Mayor Howard W. Schultz, a retired Colonel in the Army, had assured her that St. Marys would construct ramps and sidewalks for the disabled. Sue wrote, “I had lived such a normal life even with the handicap that … I decided I was headed for a full life to include everything I could cram into it with no excuses because of the handicap. I didn’t want to be considered a superior handicapped teacher. I wanted to be a superior teacher who happened to have a handicap.”

Sue continued to receive high marks in annual evaluations by McBroom principals. In one, Newt Triplett wrote that he was impressed with Sue because she was “continually looking for creative & fresh ideas & materials to use” in her classroom, that her “questioning pattern during discussions is excellent,” and that students appreciated how quickly she graded and returned quizzes and tests. He wrote, “Lesson plans continue to be well-thought-out & complete. Positive reinforcement occurred frequently. Classes were taught with energy & enthusiasm – as a result students are attentive, interested & well-behaved. Both teacher and students seem to be enjoying the class.” She retired from teaching in 1997 after nearly 30 years of motivating, educating, inspiring, and teaching thousands of St. Marys students.

While teaching at McBroom Junior High, Sue also pursued a graduate degree in History at Wright State University. She received a Master of History in 1973. Sue later served as an Adjunct Professor at Wright State University Lake Campus where she taught Western Civilization, History, and Developmental Reading. She also taught at Camp Inquire, a summer program for gifted learners. Sue was a member of the St. Marys Educational Association where she served as President and Secretary. In 1973, Sue was recognized nationally as one of the Outstanding Young Women of America.

Sue was also a relentless, fierce advocate on behalf of rights for the disabled. In 1972, she helped launch a program as Chair of the Auglaize-Mercer Employ the Handicapped Committee to contact and assist handicapped residents with finding employment. She advocated for adapting public facilities for use by people with wheelchairs including basic things such as being able to access level walks with no curbs at crossways, accessing an entrance to a building at ground level with doors wide enough to admit a wheelchair, having safe parking for handicapped individuals, and having accessible rest rooms. She also educated the public about the need to have highway roadside rest areas constructed for those in a wheelchair and to make public areas wheelchair accessible. Her work drew notice on the state and national level. Sue received a Presidential invitation to attend the 25th Annual Meeting of The President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped in May 1972. 

In 1977, Sue was named by Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes as one of 16 delegates to attend the first ever national White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals. The Conference was established by an Act of Congress in 1974 stating, “It is of critical importance to this nation that equality of opportunity, equal access to all aspects of society, and equal rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States be provided to all individuals with handicaps.” The delegates voted on approximately 100 resolutions, and the final report was sent to President Carter in September 1977. Sue stated, “If just four or five solid things come out of the conference, it’s a success. It’s a beginning of a long complicated process.” (“Handicapped Persons Hold Hope For National Changes,” The Evening Leader, June 14, 1977) 

When she turned 40, Sue decided to learn to drive and get a driver’s license. With help from state funding, she bought a van that was equipped with personalized hand controls so only she could drive it. She loved the new independence she now had. She went on trips to restaurants, museums, and bookstores in Dayton and Columbus. In 1980, she applied to and was chosen to receive one of only three fellowships in the Master of Library Science degree program at North Texas State University in Denton, Texas.

Sue was active in so many different organizations and activities that it is impossible to list them all. She was the President of the St. Marys Shakespeare Club, a state delegate to the White House Conference on Disabilities, on the committee for the Ohio Committee for the Employment of People with Disabilities, and she helped to establish the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1979. She also served on and was a member of numerous other educational and professional organizations including the Advisory Committee for the Ohio White House Conference on Library and Information Science, The Advisory Council for the Women’s Services Division of the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, The Ohio Governor’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, the St. Marys Friends of the Library, the Easter Seal annual campaign, and the Ohio Reading Association. She was instrumental in bringing national musical talent to St. Marys, including The Lettermen and Barry Manilow. 

Sue Thompson lived a “full life to include everything [she] could cram into it with no excuses because of the handicap.” She was a superior teacher, a leader, a role model, a fierce advocate for the rights of the handicapped, and a friend to many including former McBroom Junior High School Principal Earl Campbell, Janet Gibson, and Mike and Miriam Lynch and their son, Scott. But above all, she was a beloved and cherished daughter, sister, aunt, and great-aunt. She passed away on February 28, 2012, at the age of 74. She was laid to rest at Elm Grove Cemetery. Among the many awards and documents in her personal papers was an original letter Sue received praising her service to the community from United States Senator Howard M. Metzenbaum, an invitation from the White House still in its original envelope to the Ohio Governor’s Pre-Inaugural Reception, and an original letter from Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes thanking Sue for her service and appointing her to a state level committee.

For her excellence as a superior teacher, for her tireless advocacy on behalf of the handicapped, and for decades of inspiring St. Marys students, M. Sue Thompson is inducted into the St. Marys Memorial High School Hall of Fame for Service to St. Marys City Schools.