May Thornton Heg

Information below submitted courtesy of Luci Baker Johnson of Historic Seattle, a distant relative of May Thornton Heg, in April 2014:

May Thornton was born to Henry G. and Cyrena (Ball) Thornton on January 8, 1862, in Portland, Clackamas County, Oregon.

  • She married Dr. Elmer Elsworth Heg on August 13, 1890, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. (Dr. Heg helped establish the Riverton Sanatorium. His work is profiled in an article in the Seattle Sunday Times, January 12, 1908, p. 50.)
  • June 13, 1892: Their son Henry Thornton was born in north Yakima (he died November 24, 1971, in Seattle).
  • October 24, 1894:  Their son Hans Christian was born in north Yakima (he died May 16, 1963, in Port Townsend).
  • 1901-03: Elmer and May lived at 1115 Madison, Seattle (Perry Hotel).
  • 1904: The Hegs moved into their First Hill home at 1211 Harvard Avenue, Seattle (block 137). The home is now a landmark, the Heg/Phillips House.
  • December 6, 1911: She passed away (see obituary below, which includes more details of her life).

Seattle Daily Times, December 6, 1911, p. 8:

“Mrs. Elmer E. Heg Called by Death”

Daughter of Seattle Pioneer Dies After Illness of Years.

After an illness extending through more than a year, Mrs. Elmer E. Heg, wife of the former state health commissioner, died at the Heg home, 1211 Harvard Avenue, early this morning. Mrs. Heg was a daughter of Henry Clover Thornton, one of Seattle’s pioneers, who came to this city from Portland in 1870. For many years she has been identified with Seattle’s art circles, having made a particular study of Japanese art.

As a member of the monument committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Mrs. Heg assisted in raising the funds and selecting the design for the Lorado Taft statue of Washington presented to the University of Washington, and standing on the campus just inside the old Exposition entrance.

Recently Dr. Heg resigned as commissioner of health because of his wife’s dangerous illness. Mrs. Heg leaves two sons, Henry, a student in the University of Washington, and Hans, in the Broadway High School. Mrs. William F. [Flora] Prosser, of 1006 East Garfield Street and Mrs. William G. Beck, of Portland are sisters.

Mrs. Heg was a member of Trinity Parish Episcopal Church, and a Rainier Charter, DAR. The funeral will take place Friday afternoon at 2’oclock from Trinity Church, with internment in Lake View cemetery.