Elder law attorney, advocate for elderly and disabled, COA board member
Deb Thomson. (Courtesy photo)
Deborah (Deb) Thomson, 74, died Oct. 19, 2023, from Parkinson’s disease.
Deb was a lifelong advocate for the elderly and the disabled. After graduating from Penn State and George Washington School of Law, she began her legal services career in 1975 as an elder law attorney at Tri-County Legal Aid in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1981 she, her husband, Jim Breslauer, and two dogs moved to Lowell, where she had been hired as head of the elder law unit at Merrimack Valley Legal Services. She then worked at the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General, The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, and as policy director for the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Association.
She left the Alzheimer’s Association to start a one-person lobbying firm, The Pass Group, where she represented elder and disability groups in the Massachusetts Legislature. Among her many honors, in 2014 the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys created the Deborah H. Thomson Advocacy Award, with Deb as its first recipient.
She, Jim, her three dogs and three cats moved to Harvard in 2004. She was on the board of the Council on Aging, a member of the Community Preservation Committee, and delivered meals-on-wheels. In 2019 the effects of her illness required a move to Newbury Court, a continuing care community in Concord.
She is survived by her partner of 45 years, Jim Breslauer; their son, Andy Nguyen; grandchildren Sandra and Eric Nguyen; her sister, Barbara Thomson, and her niece, Meredith Hoffman-Thomson.
Deb was intelligent, articulate, and really cared. She is missed by many.
