Town turns out for funeral

As the crowd left" a small group in the corner of University Baptist Church on Friday was still singing.

""All over Chapel Hill"" I'm going to let it shine.""

The hundreds who packed the church Friday knew Chapel Hill Town Council member Bill Thorpe as a neighbor" a family man and a politician.

Though crying could be heard throughout the sanctuary" the atmosphere was upbeat at what many called a ""homegoing.""

""Good night" Daddy. You did your best with what you had" his son, William Thorpe Jr., said.

Good night" Daddy" I'll see you on the other side.""

Prominent politicians from throughout North Carolina and Chapel Hill as well as dozens of family members walked by the open casket to pay their last respects to Thorpe.

Thorpe" who grew up the third child of seven in Oxford N.C." was laid to rest Friday at the age of 67 after years of service to Chapel Hill and the state.

""He didn't know he was poor"" said Dan Leatherberry, who attended Mary Potter High School with Thorpe. He didn't know that he was not supposed to go to college.""

Thorpe attended Fayetteville State University and went on to teach in the Duplin County School System and work for the Department of Labor.

""His story is really a great American story" Thorpe Jr. said.

He was the first in his entire family to go to college as he would often tell me ‘with no money" son.'""

The mourners Friday afternoon sat in the same seats where Thorpe and his family had sat almost every Sunday since the 1970s.

""He knew there was a connection between the work he was doing outside the church to the work he was doing here" Thorpe Jr. said.

The speakers and several preachers recounted decades of stories of Bill Thorpe as a mentor and a politician.

Dozens of people stood when asked who had been influenced to achieve greater things by Thorpe.

He'd say ‘my good friend.' It really made you feel special but you knew you had to live up to it" said N.C. Rep. Larry Hall, D-Durham. He was going to put me out front and he was going to tell me what to do.

And that's what he did.""

The 11-year town council member died in his home Sept. 27 from heart problems.

Leatherberry" who has known Thorpe since 1956" said the first thing he was going to see when he went to heaven was Bill Thorpe.

""He's going to say Dan" I've organized heaven into precincts" he said. And I want you to be a block captain.""



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