Marion Julia Thornton

Marion Julia Thornton, a 98-year-old resident of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, died June 2, 2016. Born February 20, 1918, she was the daughter of John and Christine Crissey and the sister of Walter Crissey and Jane Elizabeth Selman. Marion grew up in Ithaca, NY, where she loved sledding in the winter on Ithaca hills and swimming in Cayuga Lake in the summer. After graduating high school in 1934 and secretarial school in 1935, Marion worked as a secretary at Cornell University, where she met the love of her life, Robert B. Thornton, a young agronomist from Springboro, Pennsylvania. On August 1, 1937, they were married. Over the years, Robert’s work for the USDA Soil Conservation Service took them to New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. They eventually retired to Ithaca, New York, and later to Gentry, Arkansas. Marion will be remembered as a kind and loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother and good friend and neighbor. She had a wry wit and lovely laugh like her sister and brother, and when she visited others, she often brought freshly cut flowers or vegetables from her garden or a perfect pie or cake. She delighted in spending time with her family, reading to and playing card games with the grandchildren, painting with watercolors and acrylics, taking pride in her perfect gardens, cooking great meals, visiting Maine each summer with her family, and traveling in the US and internationally. She gave generously of her time working as a leader of Cub Scouts, Brownies and Girl Scout troops; for the Red Cross Blood Bank in Ithaca; and the library and Garden Club in Gentry, Arkansas. Marion is survived by her son Roy Thornton and his wife Nancy of Schenectady, and daughter Barbara Fagan and her husband Lloyd of Siloam Springs; by grandchildren Anna and Neil Thornton, Michael and Kelly Fagan, and foster grandchildren Laurie Valleriani and Beverly DeBruyn; by great-grandchildren Calvin, Erinn and Jeremy Fagan, and Alex and Chloe Locke; and by her sister Jane Elizabeth Selman. Funeral services will be at Spring Valley Cemetery in Springboro, Pennsylvania, at a later date. In her memory, memorial contributions may be made to the Good Shepherd Hospice of Grove, Oklahoma. http://www.goodshepherdhospice.com or The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) https://www.alzfdn.org/ContributetoAFA/makeadonation.html.

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Marion Julia Thornton

February 20, 1918 - June 2, 2016