Narcissa Thorne Kiewert passes away; Lake Forest-bred sportswoman competed in motorcar races

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Narcissa Thorne Kiewert

Updated: March 3, 2012 8:26AM

Narcissa Thorne Kiewert, who grew up at her family’s 14-acre Lake Forest estate -- White Oaks on Sheridan Road -- and whose grandfather founded Montgomery Ward & Co., died Jan. 21 at her home in California as a result of complications from a fall. She was 93.

Kiewert was the last surviving daughter of Robert Julius Thorne, former president of Montgomery Ward & Co., who built the 28-room White Oaks mansion, a showcase home in the community. Robert Julius Thorne was named president of the board of trustees of Lake Forest Academy in 1930, where Kiewert attended school.

After going to finishing school at Westover in Middlebury, Conn. and the Brillantmont School in Switzerland, Kiewert returned to the U.S. and attended Northwestern University. One of five sisters, “Narci” was an accomplished sportswoman who enjoyed horseback riding, skiing, golf, tennis and hunting. Her family said she attributed her athletic talents to the fact that her father eventually realized he was never going to have a son and, therefore, treated her as one.

Kiewert was interested in the development of Formula I motorcar racing, She participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 1930s. In 1958, she took first place for women in the Portuguese Grand Prix in Macau, China; she finished second the following year.

Born in Chicago in 1918, Kiewert was named for her godmother and aunt Mrs. James Ward Thorne (Narcissa Niblack), creator of the famed miniature Thorne Rooms, which were shown at World Fairs before being housed at the Art Institute of Chicago. Kiewert is the granddaughter of George Robinson Thorne, a former major in the Civil War who cofounded Montgomery Ward & Co. with his brother-in-law, Aaron Montgomery Ward in 1872. Three years before Kiewert was born, her grandmother Katherine Dietrich, an opera singer, was among the 1,119 passengers who died on the Lusitania when it was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915.

Kiewert outlived three husbands and one son, Robert Thorne Matchett. She is survived by her three remaining children: Victoria Warner Shepard, Stephen Peet Matchett and William Edward Matchett III; and three grandchildren.

The family is requesting that any remembrances be sent to The Salvation Army in Kiewert’s name.