While Heather Thompson’s name may not ring an immediate bell to gamers worldwide, both her accomplishments and her struggles might. After an eight-year fight against breast cancer, Thompson passed away February 2, 2011 at the age of only 42.

Her career included humble beginnings at Trimark Interactive, which released such old school games as Warlock (for SNES and Genesis) and The Hive (for PC). She went on to work for many other notable companies, including NAMCO, Sega and Sierra. Some of her shipped titles include the PS2 and GameCube shooter, Dead to Rights and the SEGA Saturn’s 1996 release Bug Too!, an adorable child-friendly action/adventure platformer.

Thompson enjoyed traveling to Hawaii, Alaska and Florida, where she actively participated in each state’s wildlife, swimming with rays, whale watching and playing with dolphins. She was also an animal lover and took pride in rearing and rehabilitating rescue cats. She is survived by her husband Andre Emerson, both of her parents Jim and Brenda Thompson, and one brother Dain Stephens.

Read the full obituary here.

Heather Thompson dead at 42, 4.5 out of 5 based on 4 ratings

Tags: Sega Genesis Games, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo Entertainment System SNES

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 at 08:00 and is filed under Old Games People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.