Eva Thorp

Eva Lucille Burleson Thorp, 96, died on February 14, 2011 in Murfreesboro, TN.

Graveside services will be at 11:00 a.m. Saturday at Panhandle Cemetery with Rev. Joe Zimmerman, pastor of First Baptist Church officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of MintonChatwell Funeral Directors of Panhandle.

Eva was born on April 21, 1914 in Gould, Harmon County, Oklahoma. She was the daughter of Rufus Lee Burleson and Bertha Jane Elder. In 1933 she moved to Panhandle, TX to live with her grandfather, George M. Elder. Eva attended Panhandle High her senior year. She married Olin M. Thorp, son of Oscar L. Thorp and Blanche A. Collins, May 18, 1934 in Panhandle.

Eva was preceded in death by her husband, Olin in 1994, her son Oscar Lee Thorp in 1977, brother Edgar Lee Burleson and sisters, Frances Y. Burleson, Laura Mae Burleson Brown, and Cloe Amelda Burleson Barnes Crist.

Her family was the center of her life. She is survived by a daughter Joyce Thorp BruceJohnson and a sister, Marcella Burleson Ninemire, her grandchildren, Donna Sam Farnsworth, Don Thorp, Dale Joan Johnson, David Jana Thorp, Anne Johnson McGrath, Mike Kelly Thorp, Jennifer Casey Zandbergen, sixteen greatgrandchildren, three greatgreat grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

Eva was a member of the First Baptist Church of Panhandle for many years. She was a member of the Panhandle Red Hat Society and 55 Plus, the Col. Hardy Murfree Chapter, NSDAR and the Burleson Family Association.

In 1999, she presented a counted cross stitch picture of Square House, where her husbands family, Sheriff Oscar L. Thorp, once lived. This picture is in the Square House Museum.

Eva moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to be close to her daughter in 2007 where she resided in Sunnington Assisted Living Facility.

In lieu of flowers, suggested donations may be made to the Square House Museum, Box 276, Panhandle, Texas 79068, First Baptist Church, Box 189, Panhandle, Texas 79068 or a charity of your choice.