John Leonard Thorpe

John Leonard Thorpe January 13, 1952 - September 02, 2020 Share this obituary Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share in Email Sign Guestbook| View Guestbook Entries In the early morning hours of Wednesday, September 2, 2020, John L. Thorpe, beloved father, brother, son, and friend passed away in his sleep at the age of 68. He had been diagnosed with liver cancer earlier in the year and had been treated with chemotherapy for it hoping to prolong his life. He continued to work of projects until he was no longer able to. He still enjoyed talking to his friends and giving us all advice. We all will miss these conversations. John was born on January 13, 1952, in Dearborn, Michigan, to the late Leonard and Lucille Thorpe. He followed in his beloved father’s footsteps enjoying a career at Ford Motor Company for over 30 years being a mechanic before retiring. John was the dear father of Jason Vaughn. Grandfather of Jackson Vaughn. Loving brother of Kathryn (Louis) Barrett, Jeanne (Kevin) Deweerdt and Susan (Philip) Sabo. Many nieces and nephews will miss their Uncle John. He was known as “Twig” to his close friends and they will miss him, especially those friends and family who still have things that need fixing. John loved tinkering around in the basement or garage at all hours. His friends and family loved his tinkering to their great benefit, he could fix almost anything, and he enjoyed helping. He enjoyed the outdoors. Boating, dirt bikes, hunting, fishing, sport shooting. He shared his enjoying by teaching Jason to hunt, fish and shoot and by giving his grandson, Jackson, his first target rifle. He loved all things fast. Harleys, muscle cars (“As long as it’s a Ford!”), car racing, slot cars, RC cars. John passed his knowledge of cars to Jason by rebuilding the cylinder head together on his son’s first car, a Ford of course! And enjoyed taking his grandson go-cart riding when he visited. He had a passion for computers that he passed along to his son. John taught Jason about computers and they built their first computer. This passion and knowledge help Jason find his way to his career in IT. He loved helping his friends and family with their computer woes...no, really, he did! Today the world is a bit dimmer with his light diminished. He is loved and will be sorely missed. John chose to have his remains cremated with a memorial service to be held at a later date.