Delores Rae Thorp

Delores Rae Thorp, age 96, passed away peacefully at her daughter’s home in Stephenville, TX on Friday, December 6, 2019, surrounded by family.  The daughter of Raymond and Edna Robinson, Delores was born in Jamestown, Arkansas on April 25, 1923.  She spent her early years traveling with her parents throughout the United States before they ultimately settled in the Kansas City area. There, Delores met and married Chartley “Sonny” Day, a Navy Gunner’s Mate aboard the USS De Haven.  When she was widowed less than a year later, Delores enlisted in the Navy Waves as a Yeoman 3rd class.  Her favorite story to tell about her time in the Waves was when she had a date with Frank Sinatra while she was stationed in California.  Following an honorable discharge, Delores married James H Thorp, Jr. and became the consummate homemaker and a loving and devoted mother to their four children.   Delores and Jim were married more than 50 years, until his death in 1997.

Delores was an optimistic woman with a soft heart and quiet determination.  She will be remembered always for her generosity of spirit, her gentle humor, her kindness to others, and her incredible ability to strike up a conversation with anyone.  Delores was a talented painter, creating landscapes and still lifes in oil and watercolor.  She was an avid reader who enjoyed mysteries, classics, and even Harry Potter.  In all her endeavors, Delores lived life fully, always eager to try new things and join in the fun, whether it was learning to make soap or tubing the Guadalupe River when she was in her mid-eighties.

Delores is survived by daughter Linda Christensen and her husband Roger Christensen of Bella Vista, AR; son James H. Thorp, III and his wife Margaret Thorp of Lawrence, KS; daughter Kelley Etzel, with whom she lived, of Stephenville, TX; daughter Lisa McKinney of Albuquerque, NM; and by seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.  She is also survived by her sister, Janice Ganzer, of Tucson AZ.  Delores was preceded in death by her husband Sonny, her husband Jim, and her son-in-law, Dr. Patrick McKinney. 

Cremation is planned with a private celebration of life service to be held at a later date.  If you would like to honor Delores’s life, memorial contributions may be made in her name to For Love and Art in Dallas (forloveandart.org) or Schnauzer Rescue of Texas (schnauzerrescuetexas.me).

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