Helen Trice
was born in Fort Scott, Bourbon County, Kansas on 22 December 1894. Her parents
were Charles Yancy Trice and Luna “Lena” Estelle Drake. Her family moved
numerous times, but she lived in Lamar about 1900 and then had moved back before
1930 and lived there the rest of her life.
Helen
married Frank Cessford Thorpe on 21 February 1922 in Pittsburg, Kansas.
Aunt Helen
and Uncle Frank, as many residents of Lamar called them, had one daughter Ann
Warden who was born in 1926 and then died in an auto accident in 1942.
Aunt Helen
had a group of young ladies in Lamar called “Sub-Debs.” I don’t know anything
about them, but would love to have information about this group.
During World
War II Aunt Helen and Uncle Frank wrote a newsletter and sent it to servicemen from
Lamar who were serving in various locations in the world. This newsletter, “Thorpe’s
Tantalizing Tidbits,” kept all former residents informed about what was going
on in Lamar. It also included news that each serviceman wrote to Aunt Helen and
Uncle Frank so that information was distributed also. I now have a copy of
these letters, and I intend to transcribe them and post them some time in the
future. Since Aunt Helen was my grandmother’s sister, I feel that I am the
closest relative to this family.
Helen Trice
Thorpe died on 18 January 1978 in Lamar and was buried in Lake Cemetery in that
town.
If you have interest
in or information about Aunt Helen, Sub-Debs or Thorpe’s Tantalizing Tidbits, I
would love to have contact with you.
I would like to thank Amy Johnson Crow for her 2014 Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Amy has a blog No Story Too Small and posted this challenge in January 2014. I have only mentioned her blog and inspiration a few times during this past year. It's really been interesting to decide which ancestors to write about and keep it up for 52 weeks. Some weeks I was late, and many weeks my writing was very basic. But I would really like to encourage all of you to take the challenge in the future. Thank you again, very much, Amy.
