The Oklahoma Bar Journal February 2024

to do so, she moved his body to the highest bidder – a town in the state of Pennsylvania, where Mr. Thorpe had no real connections. 9 Since this decision by Patsy, Mr. Thorpe’s family members have filed multiple lawsuits in an attempt to have their father buried in Oklahoma, where they believe he would want to be buried. To date, they have been unsuccess ful. 10 Whatever thoughts you might have on how things ended for Mr. Thorpe, it is clear there have been years of heartache over his death relived by the family members and hundreds of thou sands of dollars spent in the court systems fighting a decision made by a family left with no legally binding instructions.

At the time of Mr. Thorpe’s death, he was married to his third wife, Patsy Thorpe, who had often shown disapproval for Mr. Thorpe’s pursued connection with his Native American ances try. 6 While Mr. Thorpe’s burial rit uals were being performed by his tribe in the presence of his fam ily, Patsy stormed in with police officers and took his body away from his funeral. 7 His wife then had a Catholic funeral mass per formed and began shopping for the location of Mr. Thorpe’s final resting place. 8 Patsy wanted his funeral to be paid for by someone else and for a memorial to be set up surrounding his burial place. After the state of Oklahoma let her know they did not have the funds

Infamous Disputes While the matter of how remains are disposed of may initially seem trivial, it is an area of the law that is continually growing. A prime example of this dispute comes from a fellow Oklahoman and national treasure, Jim Thorpe, 3 a member of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma 4 who lived an acco lade-filled life. The connections to Oklahoma and his native roots were foundational in Mr. Thorpe’s life, and he had hoped they would be as well in his death. After Mr. Thorpe passed away, his children began following the verbal wishes he had expressed to them for his burial to be in Oklahoma following the tra ditions of his tribe. 5 Unfortunately, this is not what occurred.

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

FEBRUARY 2024 | 13

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL