Thorpe Mitchell
December 14, 2016 at 5:04 p.m.
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He was born April 2, 1938, in New Kensington, Pa. He grew up along the East Coast and in 1954 moved to Wilmette, Ill., where he later graduated from New Trier High School.
In 1960, he graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio. While at OWU, Thorpe was in the USAF Reserve Officer Training Corps, was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and lettered four years as the goalie on the varsity lacrosse team.
Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the USAF, later graduating from flight school. In 1962, he married the love of his life, Karen Boyd; they were married 54 years. They were assigned to several USAF bases within the United States and Tachikawa, Japan, where their son, Brad, was born. Capt. Mitchell earned the Air Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Vietnam Service ribbon, flying the C-124 Globemaster.
Upon returning to the United States in 1967, he briefly left the military to pursue a business career and earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago in 1969. However, his love of flying quickly lured him back to military aviation and Grissom Air Force Base. While there, and later with the Indiana Air National Guard, Fort Wayne Baer Field, he flew the A-37, F-100 and F-4 Phantom II, and in 1980 he earned "Top Gun" honors for the 122nd Tactical Fighter Wing.
Thorpe and Karen lived at Tippecanoe Lake in Leesburg from 1977 to the present.
In 1985, he was ordained by Dr. Lester Sumrall of Lester Sumrall Evangelical Association. Thorpe and Karen pastored the Northern Lakes Cathedral of Praise in North Webster from 1983 to 2003. He served as LESEA’s chief pilot and flew the Cessna Citation, Falcon 20 and the C-130 Hercules.
His proudest accomplishment was running LESEA’s missionary outreach, Feed the Hungry, in the early 1990s. Mission trips included flying into formerly restricted areas of the world, including Iran and many of the former Soviet Union countries, as well as in Eastern Europe.
He retired from the Air Force Reserve as a colonel at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1990.
He is survived by his wife, Karen; son Col. Brad Mitchell, U.S. Army, retired; daughter-in-law Dr. Jeanne Mitchell; and grandchildren Andrej, Allison and Mark.
A memorial will be from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday at Faith Christian Center, 1801 W. Clinton St., Goshen. Interment with full military honors will be at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington D.C.
Eastlund Funeral Home, Syracuse, assisted the family with arrangements.
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He was born April 2, 1938, in New Kensington, Pa. He grew up along the East Coast and in 1954 moved to Wilmette, Ill., where he later graduated from New Trier High School.
In 1960, he graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio. While at OWU, Thorpe was in the USAF Reserve Officer Training Corps, was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and lettered four years as the goalie on the varsity lacrosse team.
Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the USAF, later graduating from flight school. In 1962, he married the love of his life, Karen Boyd; they were married 54 years. They were assigned to several USAF bases within the United States and Tachikawa, Japan, where their son, Brad, was born. Capt. Mitchell earned the Air Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Vietnam Service ribbon, flying the C-124 Globemaster.
Upon returning to the United States in 1967, he briefly left the military to pursue a business career and earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago in 1969. However, his love of flying quickly lured him back to military aviation and Grissom Air Force Base. While there, and later with the Indiana Air National Guard, Fort Wayne Baer Field, he flew the A-37, F-100 and F-4 Phantom II, and in 1980 he earned "Top Gun" honors for the 122nd Tactical Fighter Wing.
Thorpe and Karen lived at Tippecanoe Lake in Leesburg from 1977 to the present.
In 1985, he was ordained by Dr. Lester Sumrall of Lester Sumrall Evangelical Association. Thorpe and Karen pastored the Northern Lakes Cathedral of Praise in North Webster from 1983 to 2003. He served as LESEA’s chief pilot and flew the Cessna Citation, Falcon 20 and the C-130 Hercules.
His proudest accomplishment was running LESEA’s missionary outreach, Feed the Hungry, in the early 1990s. Mission trips included flying into formerly restricted areas of the world, including Iran and many of the former Soviet Union countries, as well as in Eastern Europe.
He retired from the Air Force Reserve as a colonel at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1990.
He is survived by his wife, Karen; son Col. Brad Mitchell, U.S. Army, retired; daughter-in-law Dr. Jeanne Mitchell; and grandchildren Andrej, Allison and Mark.
A memorial will be from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday at Faith Christian Center, 1801 W. Clinton St., Goshen. Interment with full military honors will be at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington D.C.
Eastlund Funeral Home, Syracuse, assisted the family with arrangements.
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