It has taken me forever, but I finally found George Delbert Thompson! Amazingly, he died here in Arizona in 1981 where I have lived since 1975. (I now have a faint memory of grandpa Fred either talking to him or visiting him, but I'm not sure.)
In my hunt to find out what happened to Del after his poisoning, I found this photo illustration in the Wednesday, Feb. 11, 1925 edition of The (Hanover, PA) Evening Sun:
POISON MANIAC SOUGHT IN OHIO UNIVERSITY DEATH. A sensation was caused in the entire Middle West, over the death of two Ohio State University students and the poisoning of three others with strychnine. The poison is said to have been contained in capsules, issued by the university dispensary as "quinine." Lewis Fish, of Canton, who admitted he filled a prescription for one of the dead youths, is in the custody of the police. The large photograph is that of Delbert Thompson, who is recovering from poisoning, and the insert is that of Charles Huls, the first boy to die.
Strangely, Del is shown in the 1940 census as single, living at home with his mother, Henrietta, and unmarried sister, Thelma. Was it a mistake? Was he home alone helping out? Were he and Frieda separated?
Or was the marriage a secret?
His obituary ran in the Tucson Citizen on Saturday, May 30, 1981:
THOMPSON George D (Del), 80, died Thursday, May 28, 1981. Survived by wife, Frieda; brother, Clifford E. Thompson and sister, Thelma Thompson, both of Canton, OH. He had been affiliated with Holmes Tuttle Ford. Memorial Service 11 a.m., Monday, June 1, 1981, at ARIZONA MORTUARY UNIVERSITY CHAPEL (University at North Stone), with Dr. Dale E. Hewitt officiating. Private interment at TMP East Lawn. Remembrances may be made to the American Cancer Society.
Frieda apparently returned to Canton, Ohio where she died in 1991, but she was buried with Del.
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