Jack was born c. 1922 to Annie and Alonza Thorpe. Alonza was born in Ripley, Derbyshire, England and came to Canada c. 1910, moving with his family to Grande Prairie in February, 1919. Alonza died on February 22, 1935 in Grande Prairie at the age of 47 leaving behind a young family. Jack enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy Veterans Reserve when he turned 18, at the end of 1941. He served aboard the minesweeper HMCS Bayfield, the Corvette HMCS Orangeville, and HMCS Atholl, a corvette on convoy duty from St. John’s to Londonderry, Ireland.
Jack married Irene and they had two daughters Donna (married Carsten Anderson), and Barbara (married a Tjostheim).
John William “Jack” Thorpe passed away at the QE II Hospital on November 11, 2008. His wife had predeceased him.
Source: Obituary – Surname File, Northern Tribune, February 28, 1935, Page 1, Item Ar00136, Community Book Index – Wagon Trails Grown Over