Obituary for Tommy Brent Thornton
Tommy Brent Thornton passed away on December 24, 2021 and the world lost a smile. Tommy was facing an uphill fight from the very start and not once did he shy away from the fight nor did it hurt his positive outlook.
Born with Cerebral Palsy and deaf in rural Jerome County Idaho in 1956 was not an ideal beginning and his parents Lloyd and Mavis (Hagen) Thornton gave him the initial will to fight and come out smiling. Tom’s legs were bent such that he was unable to walk so he used his hands to pull himself along and about. His older brother can attest to just how strong those arms and hands could grip when the sibling rivalries turned physical. To his last days, anyone who shook hands with him knows the power he possessed.
Tom went to Shriner’s Children’s hospital in Salt Lake City and surgeons used bones from his feet to replace missing leg bones enabling him to walk, at first with braces and canes and later full speed unassisted. His hearing was assisted with electronic aid and he attended the Idaho State School for the Deaf and Blind in Gooding graduating in 1976 where he learned that being deaf meant he could ignore those things he didn’t want to listen to and the hearing aids gave him the ability to choose. Far from seeing his physical challenges as a handicap, he simply ignored them.
Tom began looking for work and delighted other employees at the Twin Falls County Courthouse, Grizzly Bear Pizza, JB’s Big Boy and finally as a parts runner for Bernie’s Auto Repair with his grin and fun-loving personality. Fiercely independent, he moved into Syringa Estates in Hazelton over 30 years ago. To keep his mother from worrying he reminded her he had attended a life skills training course in Seattle when younger and was now an expert in folding sheets and could cook anything that came in a can. Friends came to Tom’s house for the good time, to watch and talk sports but not for his cooking. His hobbies were bacon, beer and the Boise State Broncos.
Like his Grandfather Hans Hagen, Tom was a true Hazelton man and if there is anyone in town who didn’t know him, it meant they were new or housebound and it was their loss. Tom never found the perfect woman and the family knows of no children, so he is predeceased by his father Lloyd and brother James and survived by his mother: Mavis Lisenbee, siblings: Danny Thornton, Lori Thompson and Lloyd (Jay) Thornton as well as a pile of nieces, nephews, cousins, uncles, aunts and friends who will miss his smile and exuberance.
Everyone who remembers him is asked to celebrate Tom’s life in their own way. Raising a glass of their favorite drink in his memory would be quite appropriate or donating to Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake. Instead of flowers, Tom would hope that you will do an unexpected and unsolicited act of kindness for some poor unfortunate soul in his name.
Thanks to modern communications most of us were able to keep in touch with him via texts and in that vein, it is how we can also say goodbye and how much we LUV U 😘🤟❤️😇
A memorial service will be held at 10 am Saturday January 8, 2022, at White-Reynolds Funeral Chapel, 2466 Addison Ave E. in Twin Falls. Condolences may be left by visiting www.whitereynoldschapel.com.
Born with Cerebral Palsy and deaf in rural Jerome County Idaho in 1956 was not an ideal beginning and his parents Lloyd and Mavis (Hagen) Thornton gave him the initial will to fight and come out smiling. Tom’s legs were bent such that he was unable to walk so he used his hands to pull himself along and about. His older brother can attest to just how strong those arms and hands could grip when the sibling rivalries turned physical. To his last days, anyone who shook hands with him knows the power he possessed.
Tom went to Shriner’s Children’s hospital in Salt Lake City and surgeons used bones from his feet to replace missing leg bones enabling him to walk, at first with braces and canes and later full speed unassisted. His hearing was assisted with electronic aid and he attended the Idaho State School for the Deaf and Blind in Gooding graduating in 1976 where he learned that being deaf meant he could ignore those things he didn’t want to listen to and the hearing aids gave him the ability to choose. Far from seeing his physical challenges as a handicap, he simply ignored them.
Tom began looking for work and delighted other employees at the Twin Falls County Courthouse, Grizzly Bear Pizza, JB’s Big Boy and finally as a parts runner for Bernie’s Auto Repair with his grin and fun-loving personality. Fiercely independent, he moved into Syringa Estates in Hazelton over 30 years ago. To keep his mother from worrying he reminded her he had attended a life skills training course in Seattle when younger and was now an expert in folding sheets and could cook anything that came in a can. Friends came to Tom’s house for the good time, to watch and talk sports but not for his cooking. His hobbies were bacon, beer and the Boise State Broncos.
Like his Grandfather Hans Hagen, Tom was a true Hazelton man and if there is anyone in town who didn’t know him, it meant they were new or housebound and it was their loss. Tom never found the perfect woman and the family knows of no children, so he is predeceased by his father Lloyd and brother James and survived by his mother: Mavis Lisenbee, siblings: Danny Thornton, Lori Thompson and Lloyd (Jay) Thornton as well as a pile of nieces, nephews, cousins, uncles, aunts and friends who will miss his smile and exuberance.
Everyone who remembers him is asked to celebrate Tom’s life in their own way. Raising a glass of their favorite drink in his memory would be quite appropriate or donating to Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake. Instead of flowers, Tom would hope that you will do an unexpected and unsolicited act of kindness for some poor unfortunate soul in his name.
Thanks to modern communications most of us were able to keep in touch with him via texts and in that vein, it is how we can also say goodbye and how much we LUV U 😘🤟❤️😇
A memorial service will be held at 10 am Saturday January 8, 2022, at White-Reynolds Funeral Chapel, 2466 Addison Ave E. in Twin Falls. Condolences may be left by visiting www.whitereynoldschapel.com.