Sue Ann (Mashak) Thompson ’65
Professional Achievement, School of Education
Sue Ann (Mashak) Thompson ’65 earned a Bachelor of Science in Education with minors in history and social studies. Thompson taught elementary and junior high school in Wisconsin for 34 years. In addition to her deep commitment to education, Thompson led and served on numerous boards and advisory committees from the local to the national level, with causes ranging from education to the arts, libraries, youth mentoring, cancer awareness, health research, and women’s health.
Thompson served as Wisconsin’s First Lady from 1987 to 2001. As she traveled the state, she saw firsthand how women in rural areas lacked access to the care, information, and support she was receiving as a breast cancer patient. She recognized that gap and did her part to fill it. In 1997, Thompson founded the Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation (WWHF) to bring resources, support, and education to women who needed it.
She began the WWHF with the mission to innovate, impact, and improve women’s health throughout the state, and with a simple saying that the foundation continues to live by. “It all begins with a healthy woman.”
Today, the WWHF serves over 7,000 women and families each year throughout Wisconsin, with high-quality health education and services, in collaboration with state, private, and public organizations.
"When you're talking about women's health, you're really talking about family health because women are the center of the health care system within the family," she said.
Among the awards and honors Thompson has received for her advocacy work and civic leadership includes Viterbo’s St. John XXIII Award, formerly the Pope John XXIII Award, for Distinguished Service. Her commitment to Viterbo and to serving her community also includes a 16-year membership on the Board of Trustees.
Thompson cherishes her time at Viterbo and attributes much of her sense of service and mission to her Viterbo education and time in the convent with the FSPA. She was Sr. Mary Tobia for more than five years when she was in her 20s. "They offered us an education, I believe, that was second to none. They believed in service, giving back to the community, and to people,” she shared.
She chuckles thinking of all the times she was late for meals, resulting in time on her knees in prayer for forgiveness. She fondly remembers Postulant Mistress Sr. Rosemay, who guided and educated young women, including Thompson, during their initial, preparatory stage of entering the convent.
Thompson carried Franciscan values with her as a mother, teacher, and as she started the WWHF. She upholds values of patience and lifelong learning. Thompson and her husband Tommy have two daughters and a son, and nine grandchildren. One of their grandchildren is a Viterbo student.
