Margaret Mary (Falco) Thompson, founder of the historical Tree Circus amusement park, died Dec. 14 at her Bean Creek home in Scotts Valley. She was 86.
Born in Chicago to Teresina “Susan” Falco, she lived with her maternal grandparents, Massenzio and Margaret Falco, and their five sons from 1923 to 1941. She attended St. Charles Elementary School and Lucy Flower Technical High School and worked at a number of jobs in Illinois.
In 1957, she moved to California, where she married Larry Mason Thompson from Eastend, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Together with her husband and his parents, William and Florence Thompson, Mrs. Thompson, known as Peg or Peggy, helped shape a significant period in Scotts Valley’s history.
In 1958, the Thompsons purchased the Tree Circus on Scotts Valley Drive from Axel Erlandson.
The Highway 17 bypass of Scotts Valley Drive had recently gone through, and the couple wanted to attract highway traffic back to the uniquely grafted trees.
They later purchased 35 acres between Scotts Valley Drive and Highway 17 — where Seagate, Hospice of Santa Cruz County and other businesses now stand — to expand the Tree Circus to the Highway 17 boundary. Many life-size models of dinosaurs, commissioned from Jack Ohlert Design in Long Beach, were created to attract attention to their new Lost World Amusement Park.
Before Mr. Thompson died in 1965, shortly after the new park’s opening, the couple had plans to expand with a train and other park rides, creeks, ponds and waterfalls, concession stands and a restaurant.
Over the next 18 years, Mrs. Thompson raised her three children and ran the park as it had been in 1965. The Lost World attracted celebrities, such as Bob Hope and Raquel Welch, and visitors from numerous foreign countries.
In her spare time, she ran Twin Pines Preschool and raised and trained cheetahs, chimps, ocelots, bears and gibbons.
After selling the park, in part to create Bonafonte Gardens in Gilroy, Mrs. Thompson worked until age 71, specializing in hairdressing and senior restorative massage.
Mrs. Thompson is survived by her children, Don Thompson, Rose Thompson and Wayne Thompson, all of Santa Cruz; four grandchildren; and many other relatives.
A private ceremony was Dec. 15 in Scotts Valley.
In lieu of flowers or gifts, contributions in Mrs. Thompson’s name may be sent to Hospice of Santa Cruz County, 940 Disc Drive, Scotts Valley, CA 95066.
