Philanthropist killed in car crash
A Toronto businessman and philanthropist has died following a car accident.
Frederick William Thompson died Aug. 25 at the age of 89.
The Bridle Path resident had been a successful investor for more than 50 years.
Thomspons made headlines in 2012 when he donated $10 million to the Sunnybrook Foundation — a Canadian record for a private donation going toward obsessive compulsive disorder research and treatment.
The donation, which remains the largest of its kind in Canadian history, led to the formation of the Frederick W. Thompson Anxiety Disorders Centre, a part of the department of psychiatry at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
At the time of the donation, Thompson said he thought conditions like OCD and others didn’t receive enough attention as they should.
“Sadly, mental health doesn’t get enough attention — and yet the more I talk to people, the more I realize there are very few families who don’t have some experience with it,” he said in a Sunnybrook press release.
