Andrea P. Thorpe

On January 11, 2023, Andrea P. Thorpe was called up to heaven while peacefully surrounded by loved ones and family.

Andi Thorpe (76) was born on July 17, 1946, in Duluth, Minnesota. She grew up in various areas until her family settled in Des Moines, Iowa, with a father who was a major in the Air Force and a mother who owned a stationery shop that she would help in after school. She went on to graduate with her teaching degree and an emphasis in both Spanish and English. While in college, she became a foreign exchange student in Argentina, where she fell in love with the culture and learned to speak Spanish fluently.

Andi took her first position as a teacher in Gresham, Nebraska, in 1968 as a Spanish teacher, where she met her best friend, soul mate, and love of her life, Jack Thorpe, who was an English teacher as well as a basketball coach. They were married at Saint Andrew's Church in Nebraska in December of 1969.

Both Jack and Andi moved to Stromsburg, Nebraska, where they taught for two years and then moved on to Wymore, Nebraska, to teach for three more years. This is where Andi first fell in love with exposing students to culture and the outside world when she and Jack took twenty students from a small farm town in Nebraska throughout Mexico and ended the trip in Acapulco. She found her passion and her life's calling while exposing these students to a culture and the world that they may not have been able to see otherwise.

In 1974, Andi was offered a position as the first Anglo Spanish teacher in Fort Lupton, Colorado, and took the position without hesitation, so she and Jack moved to Denver, Colorado, to start their own lives there. She started teaching during a time when Fort Lupton was going through hardship and gang riots, but she found a way to make a difference in her students' lives. Her husband Jack went on to become an 8th grade English teacher a year later.  Mr. and Mrs. Thorpe were able to find a special home within the Fort Lupton community. It was well known that Mrs. Thorpe’s door was always open for anyone in need, whether it was during school hours or not.

Andi was much more than a teacher; she was the yearbook advisor for most of her time at Fort Lupton High School, as well as the student council advisor, Spanish teacher, and English teacher. From chili and study nights in their home for students, trips to the mountains for student retreats and fishing trips, homecoming dance decorating and planning, and trips to England, Italy, and Greece with students, there were few that went to Fort Lupton High School that didn’t know the Thorpe name. Andi created friendships and connections that lasted for years and generations. She taught multiple generations of families, watching students grow from teenagers to parents and, in some cases, grandparents.  After 31 years working at Fort Lupton High School, Andi retired to spend more time fishing, sewing, knitting, and being with her family, with her true passion being playing with her grandchildren.

She will be remembered by many as a wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, mentor, and great friend. Her hugs were there to always comfort you in a time of need; she would always have an ear to listen to anything you needed and advice that would touch your soul. She will be remembered by many as a calming light in the storm to help guide those who needed her. She will be profoundly missed by all.

Andi is survived by her husband, Jack Thorpe, of Fort Lupton, CO, her son, Dan (Laura) Thorpe, her daughter, NaSeana (John) Flores, and her son-in-law Greg Flores. along with her grandchildren: Landon, Kinsley, Odi, Devina, Spencer, Hayden, and Tanner. Andi is also survived by her brother-in-law Bobb (Anne) Thorpe, their sons Brook and James Thorpe, as well as her sister-in-law Dee (Larry) Frost and their son David (Tiffany) Thorpe.

Andi was preceded in death by her mother, Norma June Anderson, her father, Herbert Anderson, and her brother, Kirk Anderson.

There will be a Celebration of Life Memorial Service held at Fort Lupton High School on Saturday, February 4th, starting with a gathering at 11:30, Memorial Service at 12:00, and a reception with food to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the scholarship fund in both Jack and Andi Thorpe’s names at the Bank of Colorado in Fort Lupton.

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