Every man needs a passion.....a reason to get up in the morning....something to look forward to....something to share. For Vic Thompson, that passion was photography.

Vic started as a young photographer for the Ottawa Citizen back in the late 50's. He would be called upon to take the photos no one else wanted to.....car crashes....fires....six hours riding the roller-coaster at the Ottawa exhibition. Every once in a while Vic would get a plum assignment like Elvis Presley's first concert at the Civic Centre and sometime his photos were picked up by international magazines such as Time.

As is often the case in life, priorities change and with marriage and a new family, Vic moved to Deep River, Ontario to become an entrepreneur. Over the course of his 35 years of being in business, Vic and his wife Ina had the pleasure of owning and operating six different retail operations.

After his retirement, Vic was once again able to pursue his love of photography and began slowly rebuilding his collection of equipment and somewhat reluctantly embracing the new digital technology. In addition to passport photos, Vic was sought after to do weddings. Brides would beam when they were presented with stunningly beautiful albums that captured their special day.

Vic was a valued member of the Valley Artisan's Co-op where he proudly displayed his many photographic images of the Deep River area from 2002 to 2009. Vic loved talking to customers that would visit the co-op and he would do his best to sell the wares of his fellow members. He was business man at heart and the Co-op benefited tremendously from his support and experience. We were sorry to see him retire in April '09, and even sorrier to lose him altogether in September. He will be missed!