Legacy Leaders

A tribute to M.J. Thomson

Marie Jean Thomson. Photo courtesy of Margaret Mason

Marie Jean Thomson was a long-time member and supporter of Ontario Nature who passed away in August, 2003. She was an avid naturalist and accomplished amateur photographer, who had a special love for the flora and fauna of the Bruce Peninsula. Five years before her death she donated her entire slide collection – over 3,000 images in all – to Ontario Nature. These images can be seen throughout this website and in various Ontario Nature publications. She also made a generous financial bequest to Ontario Nature in her will.

Ontario Nature is grateful to Ms. Thomson for the tremendous contribution she made to conservation in Ontario. Her love of the natural world will live on through the legacy that she has helped to create.

To find out more about how you can make a gift to Ontario Nature in your will, click here.

A Tribute to M.J. Thomson
by Kevin Black, ON NATURE magazine intern

Though the early morning mist has already lifted, the summer sun is still far from its zenith. Within a thicket of cedars, several chickadees whistle their signature tune. Below them, a lone human interloper peers like a botanist through the lens of her Leica; this is Marie Jean Thomson. Squatting in the moist dirt, she squints through her glasses, examining the gentle play of light and shadow upon the delicate rose and white bloom of a Showy Lady’s-Slipper. From the back of her encyclopedic mind, she knows that this orchid, Cypripedium reginae, is 50 cm in height with a 4-cm flower. She also knows it blooms from mid-June to late July, and its name means ‘queen,’ but at this moment, none of that are important. All that matters to her is colour, contrast, and composition, for she is making art.

Holding a reflective card near her subject, but beyond the view of her camera lens, Thomson fills in and softens the shadows. Taking a measurement from her analog light meter, she confirms what she already suspects: she has the lighting she desires. With a gentle push on the cable release, the Leica’s shutter quickly opens, snaps shut, and Thomson has saturated her slide film with colour.

Her photographic canvas complete, she begins dismantling her equipment, carefully placing each piece back into the large camera bag she has carried out with her onto the Bruce Peninsula this morning. Ten minutes later, she is again on the move, scanning from side-to-side for her next floral subject. With such an intimate knowledge of this area, it won’t be long. After all, with nearly 20 years of nature photography in Ontario, the Bruce is in her blood. It truly is her home away from home. And by the time she leaves, she will have within her camera three award-winning images. Of course, she won’t know that until months later, at the Toronto Camera Club’s International Salon of Photography.

The year is 1976. Thomson is two years away from retirement, but just beginning her most productive, and most lauded years as an amateur photographer of Ontario flora and fauna. She will quietly enjoy another 15 years of walking the Bruce, diligently perfecting her craft before Alzheimers will begin. This disease will slowly, but inevitably strike her down, all the while keeping her from the nature reserves she loved so much. Finally, on 18 August 2003, Marie Jean Thomson will pass away.

To this day, she is still remembered by past presidents of the Toronto Camera Club for the degree of excellence with which she pursued her art. More so, she is remembered for her generous heart, gentle manner, deep intelligence and strength of spirit. It is this spirit – combined with her great love of nature – that Thomson wanted to live on after her. It will do so through the work of Ontario Nature and in the pages of ON Nature, thanks to the generous bequest she made and the donation of her immense slide collection.

On 3 June 1913, Marie Jean Thomson was born in Duval, Saskatchewan – an only child to her Scottish-born parents. Her father, a stylish country preacher of the Presbyterian faith, soon moved the family to North Bay, where Thomson continued her schooling until graduation. When she was accepted to Victoria College at the University of Toronto, Marie and her parents moved south to Weston so they could continue to live together while Thomson pursued her studies, which she did with enthusiasm. In 1935, Thomson graduated with a degree in Math and Physics, which, as her long-time friend Margaret Mason notes with a smile, “was unusual for a girl in those days.”

After graduation, Thomson began her job search. Within a year, she had secured a job in the Treasurer’s Department at the Toronto head office of Union Carbide. By the time she retired in 1978, she was their chief accountant. “To tell you the truth though,” says Mason conspiratorially, “Marie never planned to be at Union Carbide. Her dream was to be a schoolteacher. But at that time, jobs were tight and you were glad for what you could find.” After all, “it was the end of that famous depression.”

It was fortunate for Thomson that she stayed at Union Carbide, for it was here that she met Mason, who would be a solid presence throughout her life – and the person who initially inspired Thomson to explore Ontario’s outdoors, especially the Bruce Peninsula.

But it was not until the late 50s when Thomson joined Mason in the Toronto Camera Club, intent on improving her photography skills. “Of course, Marie went much further in photography than I did,” says Mason “We both enjoyed it, but she really excelled at it.”

Decades later, her fellow members from the Toronto Camera Club (TCC) still remember her fondly. “She was gentle, soft-spoken, a stylish dresser, and a woman of high character,” says Frank Norman, a TCC past president and good friend of Thomson’s. “You know the kind of person you’d meet at the local pub?” He pauses for effect before chuckling, “That wasn’t her.”

“She was the sweetest lady you could ever meet,” says Ralph Bruner, another TCC executive. “New members could always go to her for help with photography, as well as questions about wildflowers.” In this way, Thomson was able to realize her dream of teaching.

Though she appreciated all of nature, she was especially fond of botany, which she had studied back when she was a student. “It all came back to her when she picked up a camera,” says Mason. Throughout her years as a nature photographer, Thomson continued to study up on wild flowers, especially orchids, until she knew exactly where to find them in Ontario.

Her artistic inspiration was Robert Bateman, whose work she avidly collected, and whom she admired both for his knowledge of flora and fauna, as well as his skill at bringing them to life on canvas. Striving to approach Bateman’s expertise, and with the same attention to detail that made her a successful accountant, Thomson would think nothing of spending hours designing the perfect slide. “She had to make sure all the shadows were just right,” says Mason. “She’d even get down on her hands and knees,” which is a big deal when you are pushing 70.

And her bag! “It was huge,” says Mason, ticking off a list of equipment Thomson would carry with her whenever she explored the great outdoors. “Photo equipment was so cumbersome back then. I often wondered how she did it.”

For Thomson, all her patience, exactitude, and strength of spirit were worth it, for they quietly showed through in the quality of her nature photography. Others recognized this, which is why she was a frequent award-winner – including gold – at the TCC’s International Salon of Photography.

Now, it is Ontario Nature, and our magazine, ON NATURE, who is the beneficiary of Thomson’s many labours of love. Five years before her death, Thomson donated her entire slide collection – over 3,000 images in all – to Ontario Nature. She also made a generous financial bequest, which will support Ontario Nature’s conservation programs for years to come, says David Pell, Executive Director of the Foundation for Ontario Nature. “I hope her example encourages others to think what their legacy will be when they are making their estate plans. It’s a great way for one’s life’s work to live on after them.”