A six-decade Pitt Pharmacy family tradition

​Behind the counter at Thompson Pharmacy in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Bill Thompson III (PHARM '88) moves briskly from shelf to counter, greeting familiar faces by name. Since outposts of several national pharmacy chains shuttered nearby, his family-owned business now fills prescriptions for nearly 10,000 customers each year, serving as a lifeline for local residents.

In addition, the company's long-term care pharmacy delivers medications daily to nursing homes and assisted-living facilities across 10 counties, reaching about 4,000 patients - often late into the night.

The story of Thompson Pharmacy began more than 60 years ago, when a young Bill Thompson Jr. took advice from his mentor, pharmacist Dan Meek (PHARM '30), to study pharmacy instead of education. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 1962, Thompson returned home, eventually bought Meek's neighborhood drugstore and built a business rooted in one simple lesson: Take care of the customer and they'll keep coming back.

From those humble beginnings in the Juniata neighborhood of Altoona, the pharmacy grew steadily, expanding into multiple locations across Blair County and earning a reputation for personal service even as independent pharmacies disappeared nationwide.

Bill Jr. died in 2020. He was 81. That spirit of service endures today through a new generation led by Bill III and his wife, Dana, who runs the pharmacy's gift department; Bill's mother, Anne, started that part of the business in the mid 1980s. Also on board: his sister, Susan Summers (PHARM '90); son Bill IV (PHARM '16, '18G); and daughter-in-law, Allyson Kraft (PHARM '16, '18G).

Together, they lead a team of 150 employees, continuing the family tradition of community care.

The Thompsons' gratitude to Pitt runs deep. Bill III remembers the lessons his pharmacy professors - some of whom also taught his father - provided as he matriculated. Both father and son received the School of Pharmacy's Distinguished Alumni Award, and the family has endowed scholarships supporting Blair County students studying pharmacy. "There's no way our family would be where we are without Pitt," says Bill III. "Dad always wanted to give back."

Nearly six decades after its founding, Thompson Pharmacy stands as a testament to the power of hard work, family and community - a small-town pharmacy that grew by keeping its promise to serve people first.