Lydia Edna Isham Thorp was born on October 18, 1918 in Hogeye, Texas to Jerome and Monnie Bagley Isham. She married Ernie Lee Thorp on February 2, 1935 in Denton, Texas. They were married for 75 years. She passed away on March 10, 2016 in Farmersville, Texas at the age of 97 years.

Lydia and Ernie were always together. Where you found one, you found the other. Whether they were working on the family farm with 2 pairs of mules, driving individual John Deere tractors, or working at the Leonard schools. They were active together with their Palomino horses in the Leonard Saddle Club, in rodeos across Texas, at the Astrodome or the Fort Worth Stock Show, or with the stagecoach. They loved life and living it together. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Leonard. She was the oldest active member of the church where she taught Sunday School in the Junior department for many years. She loved her family and they loved her. She will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her daughter, Linda Bowling and husband Jack of Plano; daughter-in-law, Lynda Thorp of Celeste; grandchildren, Jan Burgess, Belinda Thorp, Teresa Arcangioli, Sharon Wells, Mike Bowling, Steve Bowling, Roger Thorp, and Cody Thorp; 20 great-grandchildren; 4 great-great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews; and a host of friends. She is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Ernie; daughter, Aleta Bates; son, Frankie Thorp; grandson, Johnny Bates; and all of her brothers and sisters.

Funeral services will be held at the First Baptist Church of Leonard on Monday, March 14, 2016 at 10:00am. Officiating the service will be Charles Wrenn. Pallbearers will be Roger Thorp, Cody Thorp, Steve Bowling, Spencer Bowling, Matthew Wells, Joshua Burgess. Honorary Pallbearer will be Mike Miller. Burial will follow at Leonard Cemetery in Leonard, Texas.

The family will receive friends and family during a visitation on Sunday, March 13, 2016 from 6 to 8pm at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home in Leonard.