Born in 1903, James Ruggles Thorpe was the second of four children of Margaret Andrus and Samuel Skidmore Thorpe, a co-founder (in 1885) of the Thorpe Brothers Real Estate Company. Jim graduated from the Blake School in Minneapolis and from Princeton University, after which he worked in the family business for over forty years. He retired in 1968, having served not only as president of the company, but also in a variety of state and regional organizations as well as the National Association of Realtors.

Jim Thorpe maintained a lifelong commitment to education and personally helped many individuals obtain both secondary and college degrees. Further, he donated generously during his lifetime, as well as after this death, to several institutions of higher education, among them Carleton College and Princeton University. Other local recipients of his personal generosity included the Boy Scouts and the YMCA.

Jim established his foundation in 1974 to continue these and other philanthropic efforts he valued in the Minneapolis area. A lifelong bachelor, he invited four of his ten nieces and nephews to serve on the original board of directors, three of whom continue in this role today. When he died in 1978, the foundation received the major portion of his estate.

Since that time, the James R. Thorpe Foundation has continued to support both educational and youth-serving agencies in the Minneapolis area. By intention, however, the foundation currently funds an even wider variety of program areas -- in arts, education, and social services -- always with an eye toward those dealing with children and youth. Furthermore, the board of directors has deliberately chosen in recent years to limit grantmaking to smaller non-profits; grants are made to organizations whose operating budgets are less than $2 million. As a small family foundation, the board feels it can provide more meaningful assistance to these particular groups.

The Foundation has evolved in the years since Jim Thorpe's death, always defined by his original values and several of his interests, but continuing to adapt to current issues and needs.

Link to  Board of Directors