Kathleen Thorpe, nee Van Bibber (d. 2016)
Kathleen Thorpe was born at Fort Selkirk and grew up at Mica Creek near present day Pelly Crossing. She went to school at Dawson and stayed in St. Paul’s Hostel but did not stay long as her father felt that practical matters were more important than academics. She bought her first set of oil paints when she was twenty. After she and her husband moved to Whitehorse in the 1970s, Katheen joined the Yukon Art Society and started seriously painting and selling her art.1)
When Kathleen returned to live at Pelly Crossing, she worked in the school teaching sewing and providing inspirational support to students and family. The Yukon University Kathleen Thorpe Selkirk First Nation Bursary award support funding to eligible Selkirk First Nation students attending Yukon University.2)