LILLIAN THARP

03/06/1937 - 07/23/2023

Lillian Ann Tharp 1937-2023

Lillian Ann Tharp, a creative force, spiritual seeker and inspiration to all who knew her, passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 23, 2023. She was a beloved wife, mother and grandmother, and her family was the center of her life.

Lil was many things: artist, feminist, and champion for the underdog and social causes. She was beloved for her optimism and positive outlook and set the tone with silliness and irreverence.

Lil was born in Tulsa and earned her degree in education from the University of Houston, where she met and later married David Tharp. Earlier this year, they celebrated 64 years of marriage.

Her interests were many and varied: oil and watercolor artist and longtime member of Women in the Visual and Literary Arts (WiVLA) in Houston; book and theater lover; and passionate supporter of progressive theology and politics, human rights and justice. She was proud of her family’s Cherokee heritage, and encouraged her grandchildren to learn more about this history. Forever curious, Lil loved exploring new ideas, and she loved to tell stories.

Lil was deeply involved in the Methodist church — more than five decades at Cypress United Methodist Church and within the last year as a founding member of Mosaic United Methodist Church in Cypress. She enrolled in SMU Perkins School of Theology in her fifties. She taught the youth Sunday school class at her church for several years, and many unsuspecting teenagers left that class with longheld assumptions challenged in ways that would stick with them for a lifetime.

She is survived by husband, David Tharp of Houston; sons Larry Tharp of Houston; Tommy Tharp and wife, Regina Tharp, of Temple, Texas; and Robert Tharp and wife, Sarah Perry, of Dallas; grandchildren Andrew and wife Amanda Tharp, Matthew Tharp, Ashley Morgan Tharp, Madison Tharp, Franklin Tharp, Samuel Tharp, and Teddy Tharp. She is preceded in death by her daughter, Brenda Kaye Tharp. She will also be missed by many extended family and countless friends.

Services are 10 a.m. Saturday, July 29, at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer Road, in Houston.