Kevin Thompson, an employee at Jay Stalling's Mining Co. was a man with many female friends. A good man with fierce loyalty, he strove to do right by people. Kevin's closest friend was his lover, and drinking buddy, Susan Stewart. Kevin tolerated Susan's moods and her obsession over her ex-husband, Dan. However, when Susan spread lies about Dan that ended up hurting Kevin's friend, Valerie Conway, he had enough and revealed that Susan was lying. This led Susan to disown Kevin and go on a drinking binge. Though he succeeded in helping Susan defeat her drinking problem, Susan decided that they weren't good for each other and ended their relationship.

Not long after, Kevin married Sandy Garrison. Unfortunately, the marriage was not a happy one since the couple argued not only about money but also his feelings for Susan. One night while driving, Sandy told Kevin she wanted a divorce. Enraged, Kevin started driving recklessly and the car crashed. Kevin was alright but Sandy was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Filled with guilt, Kevin went on a drinking binge that finally landed him in a hospital in New York. Meanwhile, over the course of several months in the hospital, Sandy decided to give her marriage another try. After some searching, Sandy was relieved to find Kevin and brought him back to Oakdale, only to encounter a woman with an even more dubious reputation than Susan's. She was Ginny Hopkins, a prostitute, and she was in love with Kevin. Ginny was arrested with stolen goods, among them Kevin's watch. Kevin ultimately hit rock-bottom when he crashed his car while on a business trip that turned into a drunken spree. His liver was so diseased from all the drinking that doctors couldn't stop the bleeding, and he died. It is possible that Kevin's death at a relatively young age may have been the catalyst the led Susan Stewart to quit drinking for good.