William F. Tompkins, who became a Major General in the Army, was a native of Richmond, Virginia, and kept his residence there throughout his life. His friends knew him as Bill and learned of his friendliness, sociability, dignity, and his love of Richmond and Virginia.

Bill's grandfather was a graduate of the Military Academy, Class of 1836, and Bill wanted to be a graduate too. He entered the Academy on 14 June 1911, became a Cadet Captain, graduated high in his Class, and chose the Corps of Engineers for his arm of the Service. Bill’s first assignment after graduation was the Engineer School at Washington Barracks as a student, with extra duty as a Junior Military Aide at the White House. A short tour with the Pershing Expedition into Mexico gave him some field experience, and then he returned to the Engineer School until 18 April 1917. He served in France with Engineer troops for twenty months, receiving the Purple Heart (Merit), returned to the United States and marriage with Elizabeth Hamilton of Washington, D.C., who had become his fiancee during his White House days.

Between the two World Wars Bill had military assignments as a student at the Command and General Staff College and the War College; the Office of the Chief of Engineers; Executive Officer at the Engineer School. Commanding Officer, 8th Engineers (Mtd) at Fort McIntosh; War Department General Staff, G4 Division; and in the recently established General Headquarters as Chief of the Engineer Section, until it became the headquarters of the Army Ground Forces. His major assignments on Civil Works of the Corps of Engineers were as District Engineer of the Savannah District, from 1924 to 1928, and of the New Orleans District, from 1936 to 1940.

In mid-1943 he was made Director, Special Planning Division, in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army, charged with exploring the field of demobilization of the Army and the reorganization of the military establishment, all policy planning in the War Department and its three major commands; for accomplishing this assignment he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. On 26 July 1945, he was assigned to the U.S. Forces in the Pacific as Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff, and subsequently as Commanding Ceneral of the U.S. Army Service Command "C,” serving in Luzon, Philippine Islands, and Japan; he was awarded the Legion of Merit. In late November 1945, as a result of a physical examination, Major General Tompkins was returned to the United States and, after an examination at Walter Reed Hospital, retired from active service because of disability thereto, 30 June 1946.

Although Bill survived the war, the Tompkins lost two of their three sons in the European Theatre; Major William F. Tompkins Jr., Commander of a Heavy Pontoon Battalion, and Lieutenant George Tompkins, an Air Force Night Pursuit Pilot. Their third and youngest son, Christopher, joined the Marine Corps, became a Captain, but was not permitted to go overseas because of the loss of his two brothers.

After his retirement Bill for one year took the position of Executive Director for the Board of Regents of Gunston Hall, Virginia, charged with the maintenance of this mansion of George Mason, American Statesman and affluent Planter in the 18th Century. But in September 1947, he returned to his beloved Richmond to become Comptroller of the Medical College of Virginia known as the MCV. His father. Dr. Christopher Tompkins, was Dean of the School of Medicine for nineteen years, as was his brother for twenty-one years; his maternal grandfather was associated with the Medical College for fifty-four years, and Dean of the College for many of those years. Bill was proud and pleased to be following in the family footsteps; he also held positions on a number of Boards in Richmond and took an active part in its activities; he was a member of the Society of Cincinnati, the Virginia Historical Society, Sons of the Colonial Wars, and the Military Order of World Wars.

In 1943, the Tompkins purchased a restored farmhouse in Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, where a part of each summer was spent after retirement from the Army. Bill was interested in the activities of the area, particularly in the Sandwich Historical Society, and after retirement from the Medical College he served two years as President of the Society. Bill always devoted himself to the job at hand with good judgment and resourcefulness, whether on Army or civil activities.

—R. C. M.