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Kantlehner is associate professor of law and director of externships and the wills drafting clinic, in which supervised ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Law students develop wills at no cost for low-income families referred by Habitat for Humanity and other organizations.

Kantlehner’s commentary follows:

“Because he died without a will, multi-sport Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe, a native of Oklahoma, and member of the Sac and Fox Nation, is buried in Jim Thorpe, PA, a borough where he never resided during his life. His heirs have petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States for permission to rebury Thorpe’s remains in his native Oklahoma, on Indian lands, pursuant to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Thorpe’s remains were buried in Pennsylvania after his estranged third wife seized his remains in Oklahoma, interrupting his ritual burial ceremony in Shawnee, OK, to do so. She had him buried in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, a town named after Thorpe, in an effort to boost the local economy. Because Thorpe did not leave written burial instructions or a will, his estranged third wife controlled his estate and disposition of his remains.”

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More information about the Wills Drafting Clinic at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Law is available here.

This ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Law Now commentary was edited on Sept. 8, 2015 to provide more specific information about the locality within Pennsylvania where Thorpe is buried, but never resided.