Suzanne Maurer Thorne

She was born in Evanston, Illinois Oct. 5th, 1919. She graduated from Evanston Township High School in 1937 and attended Northwestern University, where she was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. Mrs. Thorne served her country proudly during World War II as one of the first in a group of the United States Navy WAVES from the Chicago area.

She moved to Scottsdale in 1967 and married local businessman and civic leader Niblack Thorne, to whom she remained married until his death in 1997. She and her husband provided a loving home to the four boys in their combined families.

Professionally, she was an artist and free-lance writer, and was active in a variety of local organizations in the Phoenix area. Among her favorites were the Phoenix Zoo, the Phoenix Art Museum and the Literacy Volunteers of Maricopa County.

She became a local authority on the Thorne Miniature Rooms, donated by her husband to the Phoenix Art Museum in 1962, and helped to write and publish a museum booklet on the rooms in 1972.

Her love of the local arts, particularly that of the budding western art community in the late 1960s, led to her ownership and operation of the Thorne Gallery of Scottsdale during the early 1970s. Her interest in the medium of watercolor was fueled by lessons from a number of noteworthy local artists over the years, including William B. Schimmel and Dick Phillips.

Mrs. Thorne is survived by a son, Matthew Wood (Cindy) of Phoenix; a stepson, James Thorne (Carol) of Cornville; her grandchildren Andrew and Emily Wood of Phoenix, Jason Wood of Florence, Kristina Bell (Jon) of Long Beach, Ca., Amy Lindstrom of Phoenix, Alexandra Thorne of Sedona and Kelly Poe Wilson (Jim Ellis) of Flagstaff; and five great-grandchildren.

She was predeceased by her first husband, Clad W. Wood; a son, David Hunter Wood; and a stepson, John Niblack Thorne.

Private services for her Inurnment will be held at Green Acres Mortuary. In lieu of flowers, the family is suggesting donations be made in Mrs. Thorne’s name to Hospice of the Valley; the Literacy Volunteers of Maricopa County; the Arizona Humane Society; or the Gamma Phi Beta Foundation.