Van Monroe Thornton's Obituary
Van Monroe Thornton Jr., 90 of Tulsa, Oklahoma passed on Thursday, October 11, 2018. He is survived by his wife Willa Thornton.Van was born August 3rd, 1928 in Tishomingo, Oklahoma to Van Monroe Thornton Sr. and Pauline Pyeatt Thornton. As a child, he lived in Altus, Edmond, Talihina, and Siloam Springs. He married Willa Dene Hale on July 3rd, 1958 in Ada, Oklahoma. They celebrated their 60th anniversary in July.Van had 3 children: First born was his daughter, Pauline (Twinkie) Thornton who preceded him in death. He is survived by one son, Van Timothy Thornton and wife Tina of Mounds and one more daughter, Tammie Lynn Baty and husband Tom of Bixby.He leaves behind four grandchildren: Van Remington Hunter Thornton and wife Sara of Stillwater, Ramsey Ray Winchester Thornton, Thomas Benjamin Baty and Tyler Timothy Baty, all of Bixby.His siblings who are still living are two sisters, Marjorie Smith and Patricia Duke, and one brother, James Thornton. He is preceded in death by 3 brothers, baby Joe Thornton, Richard Thornton, and Rex Thornton.After dropping out of high school at the beginning of his senior year, Van enlisted in the Navy in 1945 at the age of 17 and served at the end of World War II and was later called up for the Korean Conflict for a total of 5 years spent in the military. He earned several medals and accommodations. He spent a lot of his time on a Destroyer, the USS Eversole. He also spent time recommissioning ships.Without a diploma, he had to take an admittance test to get into Oklahoma A & M College (which now is known as Oklahoma State University) in Stillwater. He graduated in 1957 with a BS in Civil Engineering. His main employment was with The Army Corps of Engineers in Tulsa and Dallas and retired after 35 years of service as Assistant Chief of Operations. He had worked his way up, starting as a GS 5 and ending at a GS 14 with 15 being the highest. He received many citations and accommodations for Superior Work Performance from the US Department of the Army.
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