Eric Thorgren, 53, Dies

-- by Kendra Cassleman, August 19, 2002

Eric Thorgren of LaPorte, Indiana, died on August 17, 2002 at his home after a five year battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease.  He was 53.

Thorgren was a former driver, trainer, and owner who started his driving career as a teenager by driving his uncle’s (Robert Thorgren) horses at the county fairs in Michigan and Indiana.  The highlight of Eric’s career was driving the family owned and bred Cookie Snatcher to a win in an elimination of the Illinois State Fair Colt Stakes, and later winning the richest race in Chicago in 1977, the Pete Langley Memorial.

Thorgren’s grandfather, Charles, his father, Ernest, and his mother, Ruth Ann, all were harness horse owners and breeders and preceded him in death.

Thorgren is survived by his wife, Gwen, his daughters, Lindsay and Kristin, and his son, Brooks, and his sister, Kendra (Cassleman) and brother-in-law Allan Casselman, both harness horse owners and trainers.

Source: USTA Web Site