Obituary
Dr. Paul Eppler Thorpe, DVM
(May 26, 1940-November 18, 2019)
Born in Northampton, Massachusetts to Olive and Paul Thorpe, he grew up in Amherst with sister Bette, and brothers Jim and John.
Paul served in Vietnam as a search and rescue helicopter pilot with the H-S6 Squadron in the US Navy. He studied Veterinary medicine at UC Davis. In 1974, Paul moved to Lexington, Kentucky where he spent his career as an equine veterinarian.
In his work, he was dedicated to his patients and most enjoyed the friendships, stories, and jokes shared during countless surgeries and farm calls. Despite all of Paul’s accomplishments in his personal and professional life, he was always humble. We who loved him dearly will never forget his tenacity, wit, charm, stubbornness, grace (when pertinent) and tendency to disappear during hunting and fishing season.
In 2016, Paul and Teresa moved to Edgewater, Florida by the Indian River near Mosquito Lagoon close to dolphins, manatees and wild birds. Paul was a member of the Mid-Coast FlyFishing club of New Smyrna Beach where he so enjoyed tying flies and casting among friends in his endless pursuit of the elusive Redfish.
Married for fifty-two years to Teresa, Paul Thorpe is also survived by children: Sara Thorpe-Kuhl, Paul A. Thorpe, Olivia Nedved, sons-in-law: Guillermo and Mike, daughter-in-law: Jennifer, grandchildren: Emily, Claire, Alexander, Josephine, Aiden and Ana.
Thank you for your loving notes and the many phone calls. We know that it is short notice and some of you live far away, so please don’t worry if you’re not available for a trip to Florida for the funeral. We welcome and appreciate your emails, letters, pictures.
For those of you who are able and would like to attend, we’ve planned a small ceremony for Paul at the Cape Canaveral National Cemetery on Friday December 13th. It’s a lovely cemetery within 9 miles of the house. The ceremony will be determined by military protocol. A 20 minutes memorial service will be at the site.
Please arrive at the cemetery between 9:30 and 9:45am; but no later than 9:45am. We will be directed to park in Lane A. The ceremony will start promptly at 10am. Cape Canaveral National Cemetery. 5525 U.S. Highway 1, Mims, Florida, 32754.
Paul in center with Rich Keenan and Vern Von Sydow to his right; and Rick Grant and Ollie Donelan to his left. The picture was taken aboard the USS Kearsarge during Paul's 1966 deployment flying search and rescue missions in Vietnam.
Olivias birthday
Grateful to see Paul at this bonfire at Doug's.