James (Jimmy) Thorpe, 43, passed away on Saturday December 20th at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. Jimmy was born on July 10th, 1982 in Milwaukee. He graduated from South Milwaukee High School in 2000. Out of high school Jimmy worked at Hardee’s, Taco Bell. a party rental service, and Mitchell International Airport.
Jimmy moved to Merrill in 2014. Due to health complications with his kidneys, Jimmy was on dialysis 3 days a week, which he didn’t really enjoy, but made a lot of friends through, both patients and medical staff. He always had a smile on his face and a cheerful disposition. He was a very generous man and had a cold drink ready to hand out if someone stopped by. He liked to startle his neighbor by yelling “SUP DUDE!!” when he was walking his dogs by the house.
Jimmy lived with and loved spending time with his mother Dawn and stepdad Roger as well as their cats White Sox and Lily and birds, Tweetie and Baby Blue. He also had a hamster named Butterball. Jimmy was an animal lover and known to love the pets of others deeply as well. He would visit the humane society to spend time with the animals there in his free time. Jimmy was also very close with his sister, Sara, and they video chatted almost every evening and loved to arm wrestle and poke fun at each other.
Jimmy also loved watching sports, especially WWE wrestling, the Packers and Cowboys, and the Brewers. He really enjoyed playing Mario, wrestling, and football video games, as well as listening to country music. He got the chance to see the Packers play at Lambeau Field once and also saw Taylor Swift in concert in Minneapolis. Those were major highlights for him, but his greatest joy came from helping out his parents around the house and spending time with them.
Jimmy is survived by his mother, Dawn, sister, Sara, grandmother Gail, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins. Funeral services will be held at St. Francis Xavier Church in Merrill on Friday January 9th, at 11:00am. Jimmy’s family would also like to thank the staff at Aspirus Hospital in Wausau and Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee for the extraordinary care they provided for Jimmy and his family.
