Ronnie Thompson (Georgia Politician) - Early Years, Family, Education, Business

Early Years, Family, Education, Business

Thompson was born in Augusta, Georgia, to Remus Warren Thompson and the former Mattie Lou Watkins, a southern working-class couple. The family included two older brothers, Kenneth and William Thompson, and a younger sister, Janice. Remus Thompson worked in a cotton mill, credit manager, and firefighter. His mother operated a restaurant.

Originally a segregationist, Thompson said that he had been reared to "believe in separation of the races." He also developed a resentment of the dominant wealth and power elite. He once said that he could not fully evaluate the overall status of Macon because "I'm from the other side of the railroad tracks."

Thompson's family moved to Macon in 1945. Thompson attended Baptist-affiliated Mercer University in Macon, the University of Georgia extension campus at Warner Robins, and the since disbanded Woodrow Wilson Law School in Atlanta, but only for a quarter in each institution. Instead, he became general manager for 39 Friedman's jewelry stores in four southeastern states. In 1952, he married Nita Thompson; they later had two children. The couple separated in 1972; the couple divorced in 1974.