OBITUARY INFORMATION FROM NEPHEW PAUL ADDISON, CLASS OF 1970:

Esther Lydia Nelson Thorne
November 3, 1900 - May 13, 1983

Esther Thorne passed away on May 13, 1987. She was born to August and Lydia Nelson in Chicago on November 3, 1900. She and her older brother Herbert moved to East Gary about 1904 and lived with her grandmother Clara Johansson on Old Hobart Road while August built their new home, moving into it in 1906.

Esther graduated from Hobart High School in 1918, where she was Class Valedictorian and Treasurer. Her Aunt Marie Johansson was her teacher in the 5th through 8th grades.

She married Charles Thorne in East Gary on May 10, 1924. They had two children, Robert and Marian. Esther, also known as Sally, worked as a bookkeeper and stenographer at Best Electric Company and later at the Gary Audit Company in Gary.

In 1977, she was instrumental in having the name East Gary changed back to its original name of Lake Station. (see picture below)

She was survived by her husband Charles, sisters Hazel and Ruth, children Robert and Marian, and many nephews and nieces. She was preceded in death by her parents, August and Lydia, brother Herbert, and sister Mildred. She was buried in Blake Cemetery in Portage.

The picture above is from the 1918 HHS Aurora yearbook, made available by the Lake County Public Library, at: https://archive.org/details/HOHS1918Images/. The first picture below is from the Herald newspaper. The second was taken by Paul Addison.