WOMAN'S MEMORY AT SCHOOLYARD TAKES ROOT.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Anna Thompson was known as the Umbrella Lady, for the parasol she used to shield herself from the midday sun as she supervised the students on the playground at James Foster Elementary School.

So for Thompson, the tree planted in her memory next to the Pamplico Drive playground couldn't have been a more fitting tribute.

``This tree is dedicated to the memory of Anna Thompson, our `umbrella of love,' '' reads the bronze plaque that will be placed next to the 8-year-old bottle tree that was dedicated Wednesday.

``Mrs. Thompson was particularly concerned about the lack of shade on the playground,'' said Gerald Hugger, principal of Foster Elementary. ``She was a little bit sensitive to the sun, so she carried an umbrella when she walked around on the playground.''

Thompson, who died June 30 at 50, had battled brain cancer for several months.

Bill Thompson, a 27-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, said his wife's fondness for foliage also had a link to her Virginia roots. ``When she (moved) out here, that was the first question she asked me: `Where are all the trees?' '' he said.

On Wednesday, Thompson presented the school with $1,500 donated by his co-workers - members of the department's canine unit, horseback patrol, special weapons and swift-water rescue teams, and paramedic squad - to help the school buy even more shady trees.

``My wife was kind of a mother hen. She always took up children's causes,'' said Thompson, a sergeant who oversees the department's canine and mounted patrol units. ``That was one of the things she wanted to do before she passed away - get some trees for the kids up there.''

Anna Thompson was a yard supervisor at Foster Elementary for five years, Hugger said.

``She loved kids,'' said Bill Thompson, whose four children range from 16 to 24. ``In fact, she said she would have done the job for free.''

But when she became ill, she had to give up her duties at Foster Elementary as surgeries and radiation treatments to combat the cancer took their toll, her husband said.

``Today is her birthday,'' he noted Friday. ``She would have been 51 today.''

Hugger said the gesture from students and staff to remember Anna Thompson was similar to that of another sad episode in the school's history. ``We also planted some roses when we lost a student,'' the principal said, referring to the October 1992 death of Foster Elementary first-grader Lindsey Ann Waters. The little girl was riding her bike on Highway 126 when she veered into traffic and was hit by a motor home.

The planting of the bottle tree also was timed to coincide with Earth Day, Hugger said.

Foster is only 9 years old, so none of the trees provide much of a canopy of leaves. ``We're a new school, and we don't have very many large trees around here,'' the principal said.

``We were told that (the bottle tree) would do well in that type of soil and it wouldn't need an inordinate amount of water,'' added Diane Trautman, PTA president at Foster Elementary. The PTA collected donations from the community, including from the 750 students at Foster, to pay for the tree.

Once the bottle tree reaches maturity a dozen years from now, it will grow to at least 25 feet tall and provide a canopy about 15 feet in diameter, said Neal Fulton, owner of the nursery that sold the tree to the PTA.

Bottle trees are suited to the Santa Clarita Valley's hot, dry summers, Fulton said. They are a drought-tolerant variety that doesn't have a destructive root system, he noted.

Hugger remembered another of Anna Thompson's soft spots. ``The unique thing about her is she always spotted the little loner - the kid who wasn't involved,'' the principal said, noting she always encouraged those children to go play with the others.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Kids at Foster Elementary School in Saugus plant a tree in honor of Anna Thompson.

(2) Pupils plant a bottle tree in memory of Anna Thompson on Wednesday.

John Lazar/Special to the Daily News