Obituary of Valdemar A Thomsen

Valdemar (Val) Thomsen died June 10 at Pen Bay Hospital in Rockport. He was born March 14, 1948 in Chicago, Illinois. At an early age, Val showed signs of great creativity, which paved the way to his high school internship at the Chicago Museum of Natural History. His love of photography and film found him a position as a camera operator for Joe Sedelmaier, a famous commercial filmer. There, Val’s work included the famous “Where's the Beef” commercial. Years later, he was hired by AT&T to shoot their magazine advertisements. He played the violin with his good friend Imero Gobbato, after moving to Maine. Val had a keen sense of sound and was eventually hired by the Coca Cola company to edit the sound for their commercials in New York City. He was also a member of H.I.L.T. (Ted Howard’s Institute of Lower Technology) where he learned to fix Volvos. Great times were had by all at Howard’s Garage. Val was a charming, charismatic gentleman who will be missed by all. He is survived by his long term companion of thirty years, Victoria; his sister Margaret (Thomsen) McGuire and brother-in-law Tom McGuire, both of Chicago; niece Jessica (McGuire) Rodriguez, her husband Victor Rodriguez and their children Joshua, Moses, and Mia, all of Rockford, Illinois.