Mildred Ladner Thompson
Mildred Ladner Thompson (June 24, 1918 – June 25, 2013) was an American journalist, writer and columnist. Her career included tenures at The Wall Street Journal, where she became one of its first female reporters, as well as the Associated Press and Tulsa World.[1]
Early life and education
Thompson was born Mildred Diefenderfer in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1918, the only child of Orlando and Mary Diefenderfer.[1] She worked at an Allentown newspaper while completing her bachelor's degree at Moravian College.[1] Thompson next received a master's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[1]
Career
She was hired by the Associated Press in 1945, shortly after finishing graduate school.[2] Thompson worked out of the Associated Press' bureau in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] She interviewed U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife, First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt, while with the AP.[1]
Her work for the AP caught the attention of
Thompson met her first husband, the late John Ladner, a
Thompson was hired by the She was highly involved with the Tulsa Press Club while on staff.
She lived in Tulsa for 45 years until 1995, when she moved to Sarasota, Florida with her second husband, T.K. Thompson.[1][2] She continued to write biographies of new residents of her Florida retirement community.
Death
Millie Thompson died in Sarasota, Florida, on June 25, 2013, at the age of 95.[1] She was survived by her three children, Mary Pat Robertson, Helen Ladner, and Edward Ladner.[1] She had been widowed by both her first and second husbands, John Ladner, who died in 1983, and T.K. Thompson.[1] [2]