Description
John Thomason graduated from the University of California, Davis with a degree in dairy manufacturing. Upon graduation, he was hired as the West Coast general manager of the Oakland-based Borden Ice Cream Company. He then went to work at Vitafreze, Foremost, and Hagstrom and, in 1960, became Vice President of McFarlane’s Candy and Ice Cream. Thomason was hired at Dreyer’s in 1970 as “vice president, general manager, ice cream maker, truck driver, fountain manager, and dish washer.” Thomason stayed through the purchase of Dreyer’s by Gary Rogers and Rick Cronk, and helped teach Rogers about the Commerce, Industry, and Labor of ice cream manufacturing. He played a critical role in raising manufacturing standards at Dreyer’s until his retirement in 1994.