Former Cathlamet resident, Wahkiakum County Eagle publisher and SW Washington legislator Alan Thompson, 92, died Sunday in his Olympia home.

Thompson was born May 17, 1927, in Geneva Iowa. He served in the US Navy in World War II. After the war, he studied journalism at the University of Nebraska, where he was a track athlete. He married Barbara Rowland there in 1949; she died in 2016. The had four sons, Roland, Sam, James and Jonathan, who survive him.

In 1958, the family moved to Cathlamet and published The Eagle. Thompson purchased The Cowlitz County Advocate in1963. He sold The Eagle in 1966 and later published The Lewis County News of Winlock.

Thompson went to Washington, D.C., in 1960 to serve as an administrative assistant to Congresswoman Julia Butler Hansen of Cathlamet, returning in 1963 to publish The Eagle and Advocate. He ran for state legislature in 1964, winning his first election by 15 votes. He easily won subsequent elections, and when the senate seat representing Wahkiakum and Cowlitz counties became vacant. he was appointed to fill that position. He served in the legislature until 1982 when he was appointed chief clerk of the house, a position he held until 1993.