Dawes Thompson

   Dawes Thompson, 84, who forged parallel careers as a New Jersey newspaperman and a jazz guitarist, died Sept. 3 at the University Medical Center at Princeton.
   After 15 years with the Newark Evening News, he became the first public information officer for the Delaware River Basin Commission, where he remained for 23 years until his retirement in 1986. For the News, he served for five years as State House Bureau chief and, in the late 1960s, during a period of racial tension in Trenton, he served as president of the Trenton Council on Human Relations
   His jazz career began after World War II and continued until he was 80. A self-taught musician, he used acoustic (unamplified) instruments and focused on rhythm accompaniment in a repertoire devoted to traditional and swing styles. For 25 years, he played in concerts in New York City. In 1974, he toured with Bob Greene’s “World of Jelly Roll Morton Band.”
   Mr. Thompson grew up in a Trenton family of newspapermen and politicians. His father, the late Frank Thompson, was a reporter for the Trenton Evening Times and later became city clerk. His uncle, Frank Jamieson, opened the Associated Press State House Bureau and won a Pulitzer Prize. His late brother, Frank Thompson Jr., was a longtime member of the House of Representatives for the Fourth Congressional District, and an uncle, the late Crawford Jamieson, was a Mercer County state senator.
   Predeceased by his wife, Rosemary (Quinn) Thompson, and son Christopher Thompson, he is survived by daughters, Carol Thompson of Highland Park, Susanna DeRosa and her husband Guy DeRosa of Hopewell, Janney Thompson-Murtha and her husband Bill Murtha of Linwood; sons Geoffrey and his wife Jean Nist of Hopewell; Anthony and his wife Nancy Long Thompson of Huntingtown, Md.; daughter Molly Thompson and her husband Christopher Bryson of Brooklyn, N.Y.; 12 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
   A funeral Mass was held Sept. 6 at Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Trenton. A jazz memorial will be scheduled at a later date.
   Contributions can be made in his name to the Jazz Foundation of America, 322 West 48th St., 6th Floor, New York, N.Y., 10036.
   Funeral arrangements were by FitzGerald-Sommer Funeral Home, Yardley, Pa.