Mrs. Mary Northrup
Celebrates Birthday
Mrs. Mary Northrup, displays a lap robe she has made for the Veterans Hospital. Mrs. Northrup has several people make these robes. She turns in over 300 robes each year to the Hospital.
Mrs. Mary Northrup will celebrate her 85th birthday Friday, September 29, over 50 years of this time has been spent here in Rich Hill. In this 50 years Mrs. Northrup has been active in many civic affairs.
Mrs. Northrup was born in Los Angles California.She received her degree in pharmacy at the University of Southern California. She worked a short while in Kansas while her husband finished his degree, also in pharmacy. Then the couple moved to Rich Hill to open a drug store. Her husband Roy, after about 15 years became ill and then, bed-fast. For the next several years Mrs. Northrup ran the business herself. Altogether the couple was in business 31 years. They had two sons. Jack Northrup ran the drugstore in rich Hill for awhile and is now in Odessa, Mo. The other son Richard, was killed in the Philippines during the war.
After Richard was killed, the government sent word to Mrs. Northrup that her son had been killed and buried either at sea or in the Philippines. The urge to know where her son was laid to rest sent Mrs. Northrup on many travels. She finally found that he was, indeed buried in the Philippines and not at sea. Richard had been taken prisoner. The Japanese shot him along with many other prisoners shortly before the the war ended.
Mrs. Northrup has traveled to almost all parts of the world. In South America she was turned back due to conflicts in the country. The French Montmartre made her an honorary citizen of that town and sent her a large painting. In Rome she had a private audience with Pope Pious the 12th.
In Rich Hill, Mrs. Northrup was head of the Community Banquet for many years and arranged for many noteworthy speakers at these functions. In memory of her son she gave the score board at the High School. She proudly showed the invitations she gets each year for the graduation exercises. This past fourth of July she presented the town with a flag for the West Park also in memory of her son. She headed the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary for 11 years. She had the VFW Hall built and later sold it to the Veterans.
Now, at 85 Mrs. Northrup keeps busy with a project also connected with Veterans. She has lap robes made each year for the Veterans Hospital. She receives as 980 pounds of rags from various companies. She then provides the backings and as many as 50 people in Rich Hill make the robes. When she accumulates about 65 she takes them to the hospital. Once she took 650 robes to the men. On the average, however, she takes about 300 robes a year.
Mrs. Northrup says she knows everybody in Rich Hill and knows there can be no better place or people to spend 85 years with. On her birthday, Friday we at the review, wish her many more.
(This article was copied from the Rich Hill Mining Review September of 1972)
