Roy and Nola Thompson spent 69 years side by side, building a family, businesses and giving back to the Sunshine Coast they loved.
In the end, they were separated by just eight days.
Ms Thompson died on Thursday, July 30, aged 90, after a three-year battle with Stage 4 ovarian cancer. Just eight days later, on Friday, August 7, her beloved husband died, aged 95.
For their eight children, 15 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren, it has been an extraordinary and heart breaking end to a remarkable love story.
Mr Thompson had become increasingly frail and was admitted to the same ward at Selangor Private Hospital where his wife had spent her final days receiving palliative care.
For him, losing the woman he had shared 69 years of marriage with was simply too much.
“His prognosis was a broken heart,” their son Peter Thompson says.
It is a poignant final chapter to a life defined by love, family and an extraordinary generosity towards the community they called home.
The Thompsons were not simply residents of the Coast – they were deeply invested in its future.
For more than 50 years, they supported charities, community organisations and causes across the region, believing success came with a responsibility to give something back.
Their generosity is something Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli witnessed first-hand.
“Roy and Nola Thompson have been incredible champions for the people of the Sunshine Coast – supporting locals through many extremely generous donations and gifts,” Cr Natoli said.
“I have known the Thompsons for decades and, like so many people across the Sunshine Coast, I have long admired their extraordinary generosity and their deep love for this region and our people.”
Wishlist CEO Brendan Hogan echoed the mayor’s sentiments.
“Roy and Nola in very real, humble ways, helped to change the face of philanthropy on the Sunshine Coast,” Mr Hogan said.
“They gave generously, led by example and inspired others – but perhaps most importantly, they did it with love. Love for each other. Love for their family. And love for this community.
That is what legacy looks like – just one of their donations, the $2 million towards Wishlist Centre, that affordable accommodation across from the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, has already helped thousands of patients and families on the Sunshine Coast and beyond.”
MP Fiona Simpson acknowledged the enormously positive influence the couple had throughout their lives.
‘The Sunshine Coast has lost one of the most impactful and generous couples in our region’s history, but how they invested in others was also unique in that it combined both compassion and sustainability,” she said.
“It is a legacy that keeps giving by first valuing the inherent dignity and value of each human being while also seeing the bigger picture of how to bring systemic change.”
MP Brent Mickelberg honoured the Thompsons’ often anonymous generosity.
“I am saddened by the passing of both Roy and Nola Thompson and would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to their large family and many friends,” he said.
“They changed countless lives in our community with their generosity and passion for helping young people thrive, including funding millions of dollars to the Buderim Foundation and the Sunshine Coast Mind and Neuroscience Thompson Institute. I was always impressed by Roy’s incredible story of hard work. Having built a property empire from the ground up, he is responsible for many developments here right across the Coast.
“Roy and Nola never sought the spotlight through their philanthropy. They were salt of the earth and wanted to leave the Sunshine Coast a better place, and they certainly did. We could never thank them enough.”
Peter Thompson said that was the greatest legacy his father left behind: “Ninety per cent of all his donations were distributed on the Sunshine Coast”.
That generosity, he believes, came from gratitude.
Always a hard worker, Mr Thompson started his career as a carpenter at 16. When he built Chifley’s hotel at Alexandra Headland, he did extremely well from the venture. But he never forgot the community that had supported him.
“He told me straight up, ‘I did extremely well out of that. The people of the Sunshine Coast treated me so well’,” Mr Thompson’s son said.
“From then on, he wanted to give back to the Sunshine Coast.”
Among the causes closest to Mr Thompson’s heart was the University of the Sunshine Coast, where his extraordinary generosity helped provide scholarships and bursaries for future generations.
He established the Sunshine Coast Rescue Helicopter Service with prominent Sunshine Coast businessman, the late Des Scanlan, in 1976 and gave millions to local charity organisations including the Buderim Foundation and Wishlist.
Mark Forbes, co-founder founder of ENDed, a not-for-profit organisation that supports people in eating disorder recovery, experienced Roy’s generosity first-hand when he wrote a cheque for $1 million to help him establish Australia’s first eating disorder residential facility.
“Roy asked for my business card, turned to Nola and joked they had just bought it for $1 million,” Mr Forbes said.
“There was no paperwork, no fanfare and no expectation of recognition.
“That was Roy and Nola – simple, genuine and incredibly generous. They left the world much as they came into it, but their legacy will be extraordinarily difficult to replicate.”
More recently, Mr Thompson invested significantly in the Thompson Brain and Mind Centre (TBMH): another initiative that will ensure his name and commitment to the Coast continue into the future.
For the team at TBMH, Mr and Ms Thompson’s legacy is deeply personal.
Their philanthropy has made possible something rare: a not-for-profit mental health service where a person’s capacity to pay does not determine the quality of care they receive.
“Roy and Nola understood that philanthropy could do more than fund a service. It could change what is possible,” TBMH CEO Jim Lagopoulos said.
“Roy and Nola’s generosity gives people who may have exhausted every other avenue another chance. It helps families stay together, gives people hope, supports recovery and creates opportunities for people to return to work and participate in their communities.
“Just as importantly, Roy and Nola invested in the future. They have helped create an environment where research can be translated into treatment and where the discoveries of tomorrow can directly improve the lives of patients.”
TBMH’s Brady Sullivan echoed this sentiment: “Their support has allowed us to provide access to advanced mental health treatments regardless of a patient’s financial circumstances, while also building capability in neuroscience research, international clinical trials and the development of new approaches to getting patients the right care at the right time,” he said.
“Through the Brain & Mind Hub in Maroochydore, we now support several thousand patients each year, including many people living with complex and treatment-resistant mental health conditions.
“What was always remarkable about Roy and Nola was that they were far more interested in the impact of their support than in receiving recognition for it. They wanted to know whether people were getting better, whether families were being supported and whether we were continuing to push towards better ways of treating mental illness.”
Peter Thompson is now a director of the centre and says he is incredibly proud to be part of an organisation carrying his father’s name.
For all their success and wealth, the couple remained remarkably private, never seeking the limelight or the social scene.
Away from business and philanthropy, the couple’s greatest achievement was their family. Asked what he believes was the secret to their 69-year marriage, their son had a simple answer: “They loved the same stuff”.
Both loved going to the ballet, while Ms Thompson took particular pride in looking after her husband.
“Mum loved looking after her man.”
It was a partnership that endured through the ups and downs of life and continued long after their children had grown up. Even as their own health began to fail, their devotion to one another never wavered.
While Ms Thompson’s farewell was a private family event, Mr Thompson’s funeral will be a celebration of his life and the extraordinary contribution he made to the Coast.
Representatives from many of the organisations he supported are expected to attend, including the rescue helicopter service, The Buderim Foundation and other charities and community groups.
“Dad would have wanted everyone to turn up,” his son said.
The invitation is simple: everyone is welcome, as long as the church can accommodate them.
For Mayor Natoli, the impact of Mr and Ms Thompson’s lives will be felt for generations.
“The Sunshine Coast is a stronger and better place because of Roy and Nola,” she said.
“Their generosity changed lives, strengthened our education, health and community institutions and helped shape the region we know today. We have lost two extraordinary people.”
Mr Thompson’s funeral service will be held at Stella Maris Catholic Church, Church St, Maroochydore on Thursday, August 27 commencing at 11am.
