LITTLE ROCK — Whether it was in business or at the bridge table, one could expect a laugh and a fair deal from William Loral Thomason, his daughter Lisa Thomason said.
Thomason was the co-founder of Business Machines Systems in Little Rock, said customer John Sproles, general manager of Community Bakery in Little Rock.
“He was very knowledgeable in his profession and always went out of his way to help you,” Sproles said. “When you knew Bill you became his friend pretty quick.”
Thomason died Sunday at his Little Rock home from lung cancer. He was 82.
Born Sept. 5, 1928, in Bertrand, Mo., to Robert J. and Edith Johnson Thomason, he was the second youngest of six children.
In 1946, he graduated from Diehlstadt High School in Missouri as senior class president in a class of 19 - three boys and 16 girls, his daughter said.
Thomason studied business at the University of Tennessee for several years before being drafted into the U.S. Army in 1950 as a radio operator.
After he was honorably discharged, Thomason married Marilyn Porter Drinkwater on June 15, 1952. They had two daughters.
Thomason began working for NCR Corporation in Hot Springs in sales, mainly cash registers, his daughter said.
In 1967, Thomason was transferred to Little Rock to work for the company until he co-founded Business Machines Systems Inc. in 1974 - now Business Machines Systems Inc./Advanced POS Systems.
Lisa Thomason said the business sold and serviced computers and electronic cash registers.
Sproles, a more than 25-year friend and customer, said Thomason wasn’t pushy.
“He wouldn’t try to sell you something you didn’t need or try to oversell you,” Sproles said. “He’d be fair and honest and give you a good deal.”
Thomason and his wife divorced in the late 1980s and he retired in 1998, his daughter said.
An avid traveler, he and Lisa Thomason took a three-week trip to Ireland, England and Switzerland in 1999.
“He thought the people in Ireland were so friendly.They constantly wanted to talk about American politics, they loved Bill Clinton,” she said. “Daddy had the gift of gab.”
Besides traveling, Thomason spent much of his free time with the Little Rock Duplicate Bridge Club, playing several times a week, Lisa Thomason said. Club member and Little Rock resident Gerald Berry said he played bridge with Thomason for 25 years.
“There are players who are very, very serious, and Bill would be what I would call a people player,” Berry said. “He always had a nice word and laugh for everybody.”
Thomason served a year as club president and was honored with the American Contract Bridge League Bronze Life Master award - a high level of point achievement in bridge. Due to health issues, he stopped playing about five years ago, his daughter said.
Berry said Thomason competed in several out of-state tournaments and loved to make good-humored comments to fellow competitors.
“He would always greet our opponents with little snide remarks that would make people laugh,” Berry said. “He would say, ‘This team is going to be easy’ and really they’d be tough.
Arkansas, Pages 14 on 09/22/2010