Thorpe's Remains

It's always disturbing to hear of a legal fight over the remains of a loved one. Bill and Richard Thorpe have fought that fight. The two surviving children of the great Jim Thorpe and his second wife won a critical ruling Friday that could clear the way for the remains of their father to finally come home. When Thorpe died without a will in 1953, third wife Patricia Thorpe made a deal with two merging Pennsylvania towns in the Poconos, Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk, to have the town named for her husband. Jim Thorpe's remains have been kept for the past six decades in a burrough-owned roadside memorial along the Lehigh River. Despite starring at Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, it's likely that Jim Thorpe never set foot in the town that would one day bear his name.

Thorpe's children just want their father returned to the Sac and Fox land of his youth in central Oklahoma. Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania might be called Jim Thorpe to honor the man but it's also called Jim Thorpe for selfish, economic reasons. The area has no ties to the man. The area simply wanted a tourist appeal. People used Thorpe his entire life. People continued and continue to use Thorpe following his death. Jim Thorpe's life was such a sad one when it should have been one of celebration. He was a phenomenal athlete. People loved the athlete but never really cared about the man. Maybe, that was because he was Native American. We'll haul him out for the "show" but stick him on a reservation when he's not entertaining. Everyone took advantage of him. His demons didn't really do him any favors but he never seemed to get a chance to gain any traction. His entire life was a fight. Thorpe and his family have been fighting for something for a century. They spent decades fighting for the 1912 Olympic medals that never should have been taken from him. His sons had to fight to get their father's remains buried where they always should have been. Fortunately, it looks like they've won both fights.