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PEOPLE STILL REMEMBER THE NAME " JIM THORPE "

I WENT UNDER MY EX* HUSBANDS NAME UNTIL JUST RECENTLY WHEN I became divorced and reverted to my maiden name. As a kid growing up in the late thirties and forties, the name Thorpe was synonymous with sports, everyone asked if I was related to the Indian athlete. But, it amazes me that so many people remember him today, perhaps its due to the movie but that palys [[plays] every six months or so on TV.

Burt Lancaster plays the role of my father,Phyllis Thaxter , my mother, Iva Margaret Miller. Dad was still alive and happened to be visiting me in Pearl River, New York when the movie was released there about 1951. I took my two children Dagmar and Thorpe Seely to see their GrandPa's movie.  The kids were then quite young, about 4 and 5...… [[strikethrough]] It was kinda fun seeing Dad's name on the marquee [[/strikethrough]]…. I filled up the car qith [[with]] neighborhood kids.....The local manager at the theater heard that Dad was in town visiting me, he called and wanted Dad to put in an appearance, when I said that Dad would be happy to since personal appearances were the way that Dad made his living. He hemmed and hawed and said he thought Dad would come for nothing. So any way, back to the ten kids, my two included, it was Saturday afternoon, we waited in a long line to buy tickets......it was kinda fun looking up and seeing Dad's name on the Marquee, wish the kids had been old enough to read and remember. Anyway, we bought the usual candy bars and the noise moved from the kids to the screen. When Burt Lancaster playing my Dad's role first bounded on the screen, my son looked at him,....looked at me mouth agape, shook his head and said, "very seriously and slowly "That's not my Grandpa ".
This has since become a popular family story.

Men, especially, get a funny look of awe on their faces when they learn that I am Jim's daughter. Their mouths kinda drop open, they become wide eyed and they practically all say the same thing, " Not the Jim Thorpe ", the Indian athlete [[strikethrough]] . [[/strikethrough]] ??? the world8s [[world's]] greatest all around athlete, ? the one that had his medals taken away??????

I'm sure the owner of the local cleaners at 12 St. and Northern thinks I'm a real phony. The first time I dropped off cleaning after moving into Phoenix, he asked my name to put on the cleaning ticket, I told him...Grace Thorpe...he said: jokingly "Not related to the athlete are you ?" I answered; "Yes, he was my father ". He looked at me quizzically and went: "ha..ha..ha ! " and continued filling out the form. He still gives me dark looks..like:..I should be ashamed of myself for [[strikethrough]] saying such things [[/strikethrough]] telling such lies.

Strangers go out of their way after learning I'm his daughter to tell me how much they admire Dad.....old timers tell how they say him play footballl, or baseball, Indain [[Indian]] people how they knew him at Haskell or Carlisle, young people how their Uncle saw him play or their parents went to school wiht [[with]] him. Collectors write me from all over the U.S., wanting personal things of his like t-shirts, socks, letters, etc. I, unfortunately , had to call the police on one young man from Pennsylvania when I lived in New York. He had written requesting that I send him something personal of Dad's, he had called on the phone, with the same request...when he started hanging around my house waiting for me to go in and out, I grew a little frightened and very annoyed. The very few personal things I have of Dad's are going into a museum. My mother gave my sister Gail all of Dad's medals that she had. Mother said Gail was the eldest child and she should keep the collection & give it to a museum.

Within the last year these events, honoring Dad took place:

A 9 foot portrait of Dad by the noted artist Charles Banks Wilson was unveiled and hung in the Capital Rotunda, Okla City Okla. Gov Dewey Bartlett* [[strikethrough]] All Thorpe children attended. [[/strikethrough]] 6 out of my 7 Thorpe children attended.

Town of Yale.Okla., bought old house that my brother Jim Junior ,sister Gail and I were born in. State of Oklahoma Historical Society agreed to furnish and supply a curator and establish a museum there.

Carlisle,Pennsylvania will hold its first " Jim Thorpe Day ", May 10, 1969 sponsored by the Carlisle Junior Chamber of Commerce.

Jim Thorpe Memorial Museum is being built at Shaw-Homa,an Indian tourist attraction Shawnee, Okla., should open summer of 1969