James 'Jim' Thorpe dies at 101
He was a devoted family man and longtime trustee in his church
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-pmn.s3.amazonaws.com/public/CPAWUFGTD5AGZNWUF6F2NAM5PQ.jpg)
JAMES "JIM" THORPE, a former limousine driver and fork-lift operator who cared deeply for his family, died Wednesday, March 23. He was 101.
Mr. Thorpe was born July 26, 1914, in Rocky Mount, N.C., to Willie and Lola Thorpe.
One of several siblings, Mr. Thorpe came to Philadelphia as a young man searching for opportunities to work. Here, he met Allie Mae Lee Thorpe, his wife of 75 years. She died in 2012.
The Thorpes, who lived near 55th Street and Lansdowne Avenue in West Philadelphia, had one child, Jamesina Thorpe-Smith, who died of cancer in 1991.
Jamesina was survived by a daughter, Chanderlyn Smith, then 17. Smith said her grandparents encouraged her to fulfill her mother's wishes and go on to college.
Smith received a bachelor's degree in education from West Chester University and a master's in elementary education from Kutztown University.
"It was tough, but I made it," Smith said of losing her mother.
Smith taught in Philadelphia public schools for 15 years but now works for the Overbrook School for the Blind.
Smith said her grandfather "was a very quiet person who just did what he needed to do. He was a family man.
"He used to pick me up after school, and when my grandmother used to work late hours as a nurse, he picked her up from work."
Mr. Thorpe was a trustee at Bethany Baptist Church, at 58th Street and Warrington Avenue, for 51 years. He was also an usher and willing worker at the church for decades.
"He was a warm man. He cared for everybody," said Evangelist Jean Waites-Howard, founder of Healing Hearts Ministries. Waites-Howard was a childhood friend of Jamesina Thorpe-Smith.
"Everybody loved him in the neighborhood," Waites-Howard said. "He was truly respected."
James Thorpe also cared for his wife after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2000.
In addition to his granddaughter, Mr. Thorpe is survived by one brother, Russell Thorpe, of Wintersville, N.C.; four great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Services were Tuesday at Bethany Baptist Church. Burial was at Rosedale Memorial Park in Bensalem, Bucks County.
215-854-5987 @ValerieRussDN