IN MEMORIAM: Emily W. Thorn, 96;
Worked At Cooperstown Academy, CCS
HARTWICK – Emily Weir Thorn, 96, a Native Daughter of Cooperstown who worked at Cooperstown Central School and Bassett Hospital, passed away Wednesday night, Dec. 20, 2017, at Focus Rehabilitation & Nursing Center at Otsego.
She was born Aug. 19, 1921, in Adams to Bower F. and Clara (Cleaver) Weir. When Emily was only 2-years-old her mom died of tuberculosis.
In 1925, the family moved to Fly Creek, where Emily attended a one-room country school. She later attended school in Cooperstown, and graduated with the Class of 1939.
Emily married Kenneth E. Thorn on Aug. 24, 1941, in a ceremony at the First Baptist Church of Cooperstown.
Following her marriage to Ken, Emily lived most of her life in Cooperstown, where she was employed at the Cooperstown Academy run by Herbert E. Pickett on Pioneer Street, and later Cooperstown Central School. From 1952 until her retirement in 1986 she was employed at Bassett Hospital, where she spent another 21 years as a volunteer in the hospital gift shop.
A member of the Hartwick United Methodist Church, she was also a member of the Native Daughters of Cooperstown and the Hartwick Senior Citizens.
Emily loved to cook and bake and was famous for her homemade donuts, graham cracker pies and strawberry jam. She also enjoyed tending her flowers and taking care of the birds.
Emily is survived by her children, Judith (David) Jackson of Oneonta, John (Barbara) Thorn of Hartwick and Janice (Jerry) Gage of Hartwick. She is also survived by 17 grandchildren, 30+ great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, as well as a brother-in-law, Robert Hribar of Fly Creek, several nieces, nephews and cousins and friends too numerous to count.
She was predeceased by her parents, Bower and Clara; her husband, Kenneth E. Thorn, who died Feb. 17, 1971; two stepsons, Allen and Donald Thorn; two half sisters, Ruth Curran and Leta Jane Hribar; and two grandsons, Anthony R. Gage and Kenneth Strait.
Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017, at the Hartwick United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Richard D. Howard, pastor officiating.
Family and friends are invited to call at the church Tuesday morning from 10 a.m. until the time of the service.
Burial will take place in the Spring of 2018 in the Fly Creek Valley Cemetery in Fly Creek.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Focus Otsego Serenity Place Activities Fund, 128 Phoenix Mills Cross Road, Cooperstown, NY 13326 for the benefit of resident needs. Donations may also be made to the Susquehanna Animal Shelter, 4841 State Highway 28, Cooperstown, NY 13326 or the Hartwick United Methodist Church, PO Box 44, Hartwick, NY 13348.
Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.
