James Werts Thorpen ’51

James Werts Thorpen ’51 died on October 30 at his home of a massive heart attack in Casper, Wyoming. He was born in Billings, Montana, and grew up in Cody, Wyoming. He prepared for Dartmouth at Missouri Military Academy, played in the band and was a member of the Handel Society before entering Dartmouth’s Medical School. He went on to John Hopkins University School for his M.D. in 1954. He served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from 1955 to 1957 as a flight surgeon aboard the USS Coral Sea. During those years he met and married Ellen Adlie, a contract nurse in the naval hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. From 1957 to 1961 he served his residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at St. Luke’s and Children’s Hospital in Denver. They then moved to Casper to begin his practice in pathology at the Natrona County Memorial Hospital. He practiced at the hospital for 32 years. He was elected coroner of Natrona County in 1982 and served for 27 years. In addition to his professional accomplishments Jim was an avid musician and his specialty was the tuba. He played in the local orchestra and several jazz bands right up until the time of his death. He was a collector of Native-American artifacts and an educator, lecturing at meetings, schools and the law enforcement academy in nearby Douglas. Jim was preceded in death by Ellen and survived by sons Charles, James and Patrick and seven grandchildren.