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by Diana Day

Nancy Throop, wife of honoree
George Throop

“He exemplifies everything that is right about this community,” said Pat Birdsall, Vice-Chair of the Senior Community Commission, about George Throop, Sierra Madre’s 2006 Older American of the Year.

Due to a broken hip, Throop could not attend Friday’s Reception and Award Ceremony, but his family, friends, neighbors and local politicians came out to honor him anyway.

Throop, a WWII veteran, was especially noted for years of volunteer service to such organizations as the Kiwanis Club and the Tournament of Roses, among others. [A biography of Throop is available on the city’s website.]

Several of the evening’s presentations and comments centered around little unpainted wooden toys that adorned each table. The centerpieces represented over 6,000 toys Throop has made in his woodshop to donate to area hospitals. He began making the toys after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Throop, now in remission, credits this labor of love for saving his life.

Throop’s wife Nancy Throop received honors on her husband’s behalf from representatives from the offices of Senator Bob Margett, Congressman David Dreier and Fifth District Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

The Throops came to Sierra Madre 57 years ago. The couple has two sons, both of whom live in Sierra Madre, and a daughter.

Jeff Throop, George Throop’s son, reads
from his father’s acceptance speech

Son Jeff Throop was on hand to read his father’s handwritten acceptance speech.

“That older hurts a little. Maybe we should be called wiser,” Jeff Throop read. The remark was met with resounding laughter and applause.

George Throop is “the personification of individual courage,” said Mayor John Buchanan. Council Member Joe Mosca and City Manager John Gillison were also present to represent the city.

Friends approached the podium with lively anecdotes about the honoree. There were stories about Throop’s ice cream scoop collection and about how he begins each meeting of the Kiwanis Club with a rousing rendition of God Bless America.

Friend Ed Miller mentioned how he helps Throop build the wooden toys. Miller said they work to loud 1940s music and then Miller gets his “payment” – a root beer float.

Jim Wirick told the gathering that he worked for Throop at his company, George Throop Building Materials, his first summer after graduation from high school. Wirick said the Throop family, in addition to several others in Sierra Madre, helped put him through college when his own father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Nancy Throop said that she and her husband had recently attended the Los Angeles County reception for local Older American honorees.

“It’s been wonderful, the whole thing,” she said.