Since 1872, Elmwood Cemetery at 4900 E. Truman Rd. has been the final resting place for many notable people that made an impact in Kansas City. While their faces may no longer be familiar, many of those names carry on today. This month, the Northeast News is featuring some of those familiar names laid to rest there.

Luin Kennedy Thacher,
August 31,1837 – October 31, 1894

The namesake for Thacher School, which stood at 5008 Independence Ave. for more than 100 years before being demolished in 2016, was born in Hornellsville, New York. While teaching school in Kentucky, he joined the Union Army in 1861. By 1863, he was a member of the 9th Kansas Cavalry, Company G, and was promoted to the rank of major.

Following the war, he lived in Kansas City and helped write the original City Charter. Thacher became a member of the Board of Education in 1890, while also serving as the president and manager of the Commerce National Bank. After suffering from a gallbladder attack, Thacher passed at age 57.

The Thacher family plot includes his wife Carolyn, infant daughter Carrie, toddlers Flora and Otis, his adult son John and his wife Edith. A brick removed from the Thacher School’s demolition site has been placed at the family’s memorial stone.