But the real value of the home is how much closer it’s made her feel to everyone else. “Like all houses do or should do, it’s really brought our family together,” Anita said. “It’s really united this generation of Thorpes.
” “If my grandfather is looking down from above, I think he’s most pleased about that.” The former home of sports legend Jim Thorpe in Yale, a small town 43 miles west of Tulsa, is now back in his family. The Oklahoma Historical Society announced recently that it had sold the property, at 706 E.
Boston Ave., to the Jim Thorpe Memorial Foundation . The society had owned the home since 1968 but lacked the resources to maintain it.
Over the years, it’s fallen into disrepair. Family members are confident, though, that better days are ahead for the site, which has remained open to the public. Anita and her brother, James Thorpe, are leading the effort as the foundation’s vice president and president, respectively, with other family members around the country also serving on the board.
Anita Thorpe, of Oklahoma City, said they have ideas about some new things they’d like to do in memory of Jim Thorpe, who is widely recognized as one of the 20th century’s best athletes. But the first priority is to save the home, which Thorpe lived in from 1917 to 1923. She said an estimated $60,000 to $70,000 worth of repairs and renovations are needed.
“It needs help from top to bottom, from the roof to electrical to plumbing to the foundation,” she said. “It’s a 108-year-old home, and there’s just been no ability to keep it properly maintained.” Passing of the torch Anita Thorpe, born several years after Jim Thorpe’s death in 1953, never had a chance to know her grandfather personally.
She had to rely, instead, on stories from her father and other relatives. The man she pictures in her mind “could fill up a room just with his presence,” she said. He had his “stoic” side but also could “laugh easily.
” Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts “He had a huge sense of humor.” Jim Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, was born near Prague in Lincoln County. He moved to Yale after becoming famous in the 1912 Olympics, where he won two gold medals.
The house, on the National Registry of Historic Places, is the only one Thorpe ever owned. Built in 1916, it was upscale for that time, boasting cold running water, electricity, sewer and gas. Thorpe bought the place for his growing family — he and his first wife, Iva Miller, and their four children.
Thorpe ultimately had eight children among his three marriages. The last of his surviving children was Anita’s father, Richard Thorpe. He died in 2020.
Anita said her father and his siblings felt a responsibility for keeping the Jim Thorpe story alive. “We’ve picked up the torch. We’re carrying it for them now,” she said.
After learning in 2019 that the site might be sold, she and family members got serious two years ago about buying it, Anita said. “The home and the town of Yale have always been near and dear to the Thorpe family,” she said, adding that two of her aunts also lived there. With so many Thorpe family members now getting involved, an added bonus is that they are growing closer as a family, she said.
She said the foundation hopes to expand its reach beyond the Yale home and the state and even sponsor national athletic events or camps. “We’re ecstatic about the future,” she said. “We have some great ideas.
” The home is currently open to the public on the second Friday of every month during regular business hours or by appointment. Anita said the hope is to increase the days and hours going forward. For more information, go to jimthorpememorialfoundation.
org . The site includes a donation link. The Tulsa World is where your story lives.
