Allin Thompson Remembered As Champion Of Community

HARWICH – Longtime community servant Allin P. Thompson, 84, passed away on Monday, Aug. 24. Mr. Thompson served the town in various capacities for 60 years, including three years as a selectman.

 “It’s been a wonderful run,” Mr. Thompson said in May at a farewell gathering as he stepped aside as a water-wastewater commissioner having served in that capacity for 16 years.

“The people of the town of Harwich have always been first class to me in every way and I’ve done all I could over the years to make our lives better.”

 “Your time here on board, with all your experience you bring along, guided us and led this department with professionalism,” water-wastewater staff member Wellesley Marsh said at that farewell gathering. “We’re better off for you.”

“His friendly face and kind demeanor will be missed by the water department,” Marsh said yesterday. 

 “I've been sorting through a ton of memories of Allin over the past couple of days, not only as a valued colleague on the board of selectmen all those many years ago, but also as a good friend,” said Sandra Hall, who served on the select board and charter commission with Mr. Thompson. “He loved his hometown fiercely, and in my mind, was the embodiment of Old Harwich.”

“Allin was always happy to share his encyclopedic knowledge and memories of the town with anyone who asked, and he was a voice we always needed to hear at town meeting. His decades of steady service to the town were never about ego, never about power. He served because he cared,” Hall said. 

“Allin had serviced the town of Harwich in many capacities in both elected and appointed positions,” said select board member and former town clerk Anita Doucette. “He was a true dedicated public servant. He had served in every position he held with devotion and always with a smile, he has left his imprint in the history of our town.”

 Select board member Donald Howell said Mr. Thompson was one of the central figures in Harwich during the past half century. “I knew him for over 35 years and he cared deeply about his hometown. But even though he served as a selectman — which many would have viewed as his crowning achievement within the town — he repeatedly made it clear that the environment was his first love.”

 Mr. Thompson was particularly proud of co-founding the Pleasant Bay Alliance and of his work as a commissioner with the water-wastewater commission, Howell added. Mr. Thompson served on the Alliance for 20 years.

“On a personal note, he repeatedly prodded me in the ‘90s to run for office, and I enjoyed many years of his friendship and counsel. People may come along to fill the positions he held, but no one will ever truly replace him,” said Howell.

Members of the select board on Monday night held a moment of silence for Mr. Thompson. Board members spoke of his many contributions, calling Mr. Thompson a gracious person, a standup guy and a great contributor to community and services on Cape Cod.

Mr. Thompson started contributing to the town in the 1960s. He was appointed to an unexpired term on the parks commission in 1967 and made a transition to the finance committee in the early 1970s, resigning in 1977 to take the committee’s executive secretary position. In 1986 he was elected to the town’s first charter commission. At that time he also served on the historical commission. In 1988 he was appointed to the bylaw review committee. 

In 1989, Mr. Thompson was elected to the board of selectmen for three years and was returned to office in 1992 and again in 1995. While a selectman, he also served on the Brooks Academy Museum commission and was a member of the school superintendent search committee. 

Over the years, he continued to serve on the citizens advisory committee for wastewater and the wastewater implementation committee. He was chair of the school building needs committee and served on the Monomoy Regional High School building committee. 

In an interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Thompson said his wife, Isobel “Izzy” Thompson who passed away in 2025, had been “a saint” for letting him serve the community over the years. “She never said, ‘you have to stay home,’” Mr. Thompson said. Izzy was also a major contributor to the community. She worked with the Cape Cod Council of Churches and created the Nights of Hospitality program, where people experiencing homelessness could shower and grab hot meals. She also created Team Izzy, a group that collected clothing and toiletries for the Salvation Army.

 Both Allin and Izzy Thompson were inducted into the Harwich Hall of Fame, which honors contributing community members.

 “Izzy was waiting with open arms, a wonderful couple who exemplified what it meant to be a member of our community,” Richard Waystack wrote on social media when he learned of Mr. Thompson's passing.

Mr. Thompson told The Chronicle a couple of years ago what he learned from his volunteerism is that there is no such thing as one individual responsible for town accomplishment. It takes a community and a town meeting vote. 

For 60 years, Allin Thompson certainly had a major hand in shaping community accomplishments.

Funeral arrangements were not available as of The Chronicle’s deadline.