Community Loses Lifelong Advocate

DAYTON – Elizabeth Thorn spent her life supporting the preservation of history and educating the new generations in Dayton and surrounding communities.

"What she did in the community, lovingly restoring our historic buildings, was how she treated the people as well," said friend and colleague Valerie Kerr of Dayton. "She brought out the best in us. She truly validated you as a person and cared so deeply for everyone. You don't find too many people who you can say that about."

Thorn passed away earlier this month, on Feb. 6, at age 66, after quietly battling health issues for a number of years. A private memorial service at the Liberty Theater drew a large number of friends and family to remember this lifelong resident of Dayton and her countless hours of service to the community.

In recent years, many people got to know Thorn through her work at the Palus Museum in Dayton, where she had been exhibit chair and director since 2002. Her inspiration was behind most of the museums' interactive children's exhibits, and she led the staff in efforts to conduct research, write grants, and archive the history of the county.

As a founding member of the Blue Mountain Heritage Society and president from 1999 to 2007, she led fundraising and historical preservation efforts for the Smith Hollow School, which was successfully restored and moved to its current location in town several years ago.

In an ongoing oral history project, Thorn interviewed over 60 people to capture their home, school, farming, military and community service experiences on tape and on film. She was then co-editor of a three-volume history of Columbia County.

She was also board director and secretary of the Columbia County Courthouse Restoration Project and helped archive photos and memorabilia for the Dayton Historical Depot.

"Elizabeth was just so caring and nurturing," said Dayton resident Diane Longanecker, who knew Thorn for over 11 years and worked with her on the Heritage Society newsletter. "Doing what she did at the museum – teaching – was the ultimate thing for her, to be able to pass that knowledge on to the younger generation."

Longanecker recalled working until the "wee hours of the morning, almost sun up," with Thorn on the newsletter. "She seemed to really thrive on that. She was really detail-oriented and talk about true grit and iron will!"

But it wasn't just about work. Thorn helped Longanecker during the 2005 fire, when Longanecker was forced to evacuate her mountain home for several weeks. "I had been injured just before the fire, and with moving out my horses and being in pain, I wasn't getting any sleep. So Elizabeth invited me to sleep at her house, and she would wrap me up and make sure I had hot water bottles. She took care of me, and I got real good sleep."

In the evenings, when Thorn's husband, Eric, would come in from the fields and Longanecker would arrive after a day of caring for her horses, Thorn would have bowls of fresh peaches for them, and they'd all sit down and talk about their day.

"When the 2006 fire happened, Elizabeth was right there on the phone, telling me she knew I'd been evacuated and that I could come on down and stay with her again," Longanecker recalled. "Before the end of the day, though, she called back and said, 'I'm really, really sorry but I'm being evacuated too! So you can't come here.'"

Thorn was born on July 24, 1948, in Dayton. She grew up here but left to attend university and received a degree in political science and pursued advanced studies in early childhood development at Washington State University. She married Wilfred Eric Thorn in 1969, and they returned to settle on the family farm near Dayton in 1972.

Together the couple raised their daughter, Elissa, and pursued minimum disturbance farming, focusing on conserving and enhancing the soil, and raising natural beef. Thorn also found time to lead Sunday school classes for several years, develop and teach in an award-winning gifted student program for Dayton schools, frequent area horse shows and serve as a driver and chaperone for school, church and 4-H events.

"She was just such a gracious person and gave so much," said Kerr, who worked with Thorn at both the Smith Hollow School and Palus Museum and had recently been helping with yard work and other tasks around the home. "She was just one of those great people who added so much to life, so much light to life. It's going to be hard to have that gone. She was completely genuine, and I'm going to miss her."