John H. Thompson; Engineering Contractor

John Harrison Thompson, 76, engineering contractor who built such projects as the San Diego Freeway, Trousdale Estates and Westlake Village. Thompson, a native of Canada, earned his civil engineering degree at USC and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was president and chairman of the board of the contracting company he formed with his father, J.A. Thompson & Son, and of his own J.H. Thompson Corp. A pioneering contractor in Hawaii as well as Southern California, Thompson built the early runways at Hawaii International Airport, apartment complexes and golf courses on Oahu and a 1.4-billion-gallon reservoir on Molokai. Among his Southern California projects were sections of the Glendale Freeway and Interstate 10, several golf courses in the Palm Springs area and Porter Ranch. On Wednesday in Rancho Mirage.