James Elwood THORN

THORN, RAMUS, SORENSEN, SHIMEK, SORENSON, BECKER, RANDLEMAN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/10/2010 at 10:46:32

May 28, 1935 -- February 16, 2009

James E. Thorn, age 73, of Council Bluffs passed away on February 16, 2009, at Jennie Edmundson Hospital.

He was born in LuVerne, Iowa to the late James B. and Velma (Ramus) Thorn. After High School he served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean Conflict. He attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa and then the University of Iowa Law School graduating in 1963. He worked as an Iowa Workers' Compensation Attorney for 46 years, retiring from Tinley-Peters-Thorn Law Firm in Council Bluffs in 2009. He married Mary Shimek on August 21, 1959. He was a member of Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Council Bluffs Kiwanis, Chairman of Parks and Recreation Commission for Council Bluffs, State and County Bar Association, Past president of Iowa Association of Workers' Compensation Lawyers, Inc. and President of Iowa Workers' Compensation Advisory Committee.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Larry Thorn; aunt and foster mother, Virginia Sorensen and his foster sister Charlene Sorenson. He is survived by his wife, Mary of Council Bluffs; 3 sons, James E. Thorn II of Chicago, Ill., Thomas P. Thorn of Des Moines, Iowa and Charles J. Thorn of Ankeny, Iowa; daughter, Patricia and husband Ricardo Becker of Phoenix, Ariz.; granddaughter, Michaela Randleman of Tucson, Ariz.; brother, Everett Thorn of Spirit Lake, Iowa; and uncle,foster father Charles Sorensen of Corwith, Iowa.

Memorial Service Friday at 1:00 p.m. at the Cutler- O'Neill-Meyer-Woodring Funeral Home with Rev. Dr. Duane Anunson officiating. No Visitation body has been cremated. Memorials to Our Saviors Lutheran Church or to St. Albert Schools.