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Thorpe Running,   Age 69
Visitation Location: Bethlehem Lutheran Church, St. Cloud, MN
Visitation Date/Time: Friday, April 30, 2010 from 12:00 (NOON) to 2:00 PM
Funeral Time: Friday, April 30, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Funeral Location: Bethlehem Lutheran Church, St. Cloud, MN
Burial Location: Bethlehem Lutheran Church Columbarium
   
    THORPE RUNNING, 69
    St. Cloud, MN
    April 11, 1941 - April 23, 2010
    
     Thorpe Running, age 69, St. Cloud, MN died Friday, April 23, 2010 at the St. Cloud Hospital, St. Cloud, MN.
     Funeral services will be Friday, April 30, 2010 at 2:00 PM at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, St. Cloud, MN. Visitation will be from 12:00 (NOON) to 2:00 PM at the church on Friday. Internment will be in the Columbarium at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, St. Cloud, MN. Funeral arrangements were made by Benson Funeral Home, St. Cloud, MN.
     Born Christian Thorpe Running in Fargo, North Dakota on April 11, 1941 to Cyrus and Eldrid (Thorpe) Running. Following graduation from Oak Grove Lutheran High School in Fargo, ND in 1959, Thorpe received a degree in French and Spanish, Summa Cum Laude, from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN four years later.
     After marrying Cheryl Benson in 1963, Thorpe attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he received a Master’s Degree in Spanish in 1964. He received a PhD in Spanish from Universidad Interamericana in 1966. A second PhD, also in Spanish literature, came from the University of Minnesota in 1974. Thorpe taught at University of Wisconsin (Madison), Luther College (Decorah, IA), Concordia College (Moorhead, MN), and St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict until his retirement in 2005.
     Well known as a scholar of Latin American poetry. He wrote three books and numerous articles on his specialty. Thorpe also was an avid athlete, running marathons in the 1970’s, and doing triathlons after that. While on a training ride, he had a serious bicycle accident and became a quadriplegic in 1999. A highlight of his life was the many trips he made to Spain and Argentina, including trips taken after his accident.
     He is survived by his wife, Cheryl, daughters, Sara Danger (Paul) and Maren Coltvet (Tim), grandchildren, Maia and Ingrid Danger, Linnea and Anders Coltvet, Sister, Anne Sovik (Ed) and brothers, Arne (Nancy) and Tim, mother-in-law, Patty Benson, sister-in-law, Kimberly Zimmerman (Steve), brother-in-law, Michael Benson, and many nieces and nephews. He and Cheryl were blessed by many supportive neighbors, friends, colleagues and morning caregivers.
     He was preceded in death by his parents Cyrus and Eldrid, father-in-law, Arvid Benson, and sister-in-law, Sarah Running.
     In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN for the Thorpe Running Spanish Scholarship.
     Honorary pallbearers will be his grandchildren, Maia and Ingrid Danger, Linnea and Anders Coltvet and Thorpe’s caregivers.
    

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