Grace Thorpe  Grace Thorpe (10 December 1921 – 1 April 2008) was a World War II veteran, and Native rights and environmental activist. She served with the Women's Army Corps and received a Bronze Star Medal for her service in the New Guinea campaign. She later became a tribal district court judge. She attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and the Antioch School of Law. She received a Nuclear-Free Future Award in 1999 for her opposition to storing toxic and radioactive waste on indigenous land. Her father was well-known American football player and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe. Grace Frances Thorpe was born on December 10 in 1921, to parents James (Jim) Francis Thorpe and Iva Margaret Miller. She was born in Yale, Oklahoma in the only house her father ever owned. Now a museum, it is fondly known as the “Jim Thorpe House” and can be visited by tourists year round. Grace was youngest of four, her oldest sister Gail Margaret born in 1917, her brother James in 1918, and her sister Charlotte Marie in 1919. Her brother James died from polio before reaching adolescence. Grace's heritage was mixed, with traces of Potawatomi, Kickapoo, and Menominee. She was also a direct descendant of Sac and Fox chief, Black Hawk. Iva and Jim divorced in 1923 and Jim moved out west to California while Iva took Charlotte, Gail, and Grace to Chicago. Jim tried his hand at making western themed movies for a time, and Grace lived with both parents for several years before finishing high school. Jim married two more times in his lifetime, giving Grace four half-brothers, whom she had little to do with. Grace remained close with her father, however, visiting him frequently as he moved around the country and lost much of his fortune. During World War II, Grace lived overseas, involved in America's war effort, and was married. She returned to the United States in 1950 to settle down in Pearl River, New York, near her father's home. Grace Frances Thorpe died on April 1, 2008 from complications following a heart attack. She is remembered for her military, legal, and activist legacy. In 1943, Thorpe enlisted in the military and joined the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. She wanted to travel and serve her country during World War II. Though she had envisioned herself in places like Paris or Athens, she ended up stationed in the Philippines, Japan, and New Guinea where she served as a corporal.