I.J. Tharp, 92 of Blue Springs, Missouri, passed away Tuesday, January 24, 2017 at Kindred Hospital, Kansas City, MO. Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Monday, January 30th at First Baptist Church of Oak Grove; burial in Missouri State Veterans Cemetery, Higginsville, MO. The family will receive friends from 12:30 p.m. until service time at the church.
I.J. Tharp (his full legal name) was born in East Texas on June 24, 1924 to Isaac Tharp and Blanche Sweeney. Shortly after his birth, the Tharps decided on moving east to live near Monroe, Louisiana. As a child, IJ had some beautiful memories of watching the boats sail by on the Ouachita River.
When the Great Depression hit, I.J.’s father was unable to find steady work, and the family became increasingly more desperate. Thankfully, loving relatives from western Kansas drove straight down to Louisiana, loaded the Tharp family into the bed of their truck, and set off towards a new home in Shallow Water, Kansas. In this new town, I.J.’s father was finally able to find steady work at the local refinery, and I.J., his two older brothers, Paul and Lawrence, and their little sister, Marquerite, were able to finish their schooling in the Shallow Water School District.
After graduating high school, I.J. attended Garden City Junior College for a single semester, then took it upon himself to enlist voluntarily in the United States Navy. By then, the US was in the middle of World War II, and the Navy trained I.J. to the rank of Aviation Electronics Technician’s Mate 3rd Class. He served state side in that capacity until the war ended.
Upon discharge from the Navy, I.J. took advantage of the GI Bill and enrolled at the University of Kansas where he completed work for an electrical engineering degree in 1950.
While at K.U., I.J. joined the Christian fraternity Chi Chi Chi. The fraternity house was located just down the street from where a beautiful KU grad student was living with two elderly maidens. This particular student just so happened to eat her meals in the same place these Chi Chi Chi brothers dined. How fortunate!
After completing his engineering degree in 1950, I.J. married the beautiful KU grad student, Eulea, and was hired by the esteemed tech giant IBM, the same company where he also retired from 38 years later in 1989. During his time of employment, he received IBM assignments in several different locations: Endicott, NY, Poughkeepsie, NY, Alexandria, VA, Huntsville, AL, Boulder, CO, and Tucson, AZ. After retiring at the end of his tenure in Tucson, I.J. and Eulea moved to Blue Springs, Missouri, to be closer to family.
I.J. is father to two children, son David Tharp, presently of Fort Collins, CO, and daughter Carolyn Tharp of Blue Springs, Missouri. He is grandfather to Cynthia Tharp and Sarah Tharp, children of son, David Tharp. He is also grandfather to Bryan and Alicia Blair, children of daughter Carolyn Tharp.
At the time of writing this account, the beautiful KU grad and her Chi Chi Chi fraternity guy will have been married for 64 years.
Written by Loving Wife, Eulea Tharp
Arrangements: Royer Funeral Home, Oak Grove, MO 816-690-4441