John B. Thornton was born in Springfield Ohio to Ruth and Chester Thornton on January 13th, 1935 and went to be with our Lord & Father on July 11th 2016.  He was known by his family and friends as "Bernie".

John is survived by his devoted loving wife Pamela Thornton and his sons John, Craig, Bret, and Rex Thornton, his Sister Joanne Vaughn and 5 grandchildren and great grandchildren.

John was preceded in death by his son Jeff Thornton of Ohio.

John graduated from Pomeroy High School class of 1954 and attended Athens College in Ohio. He joined the Navy after he graduated High School in 1954 - 1958 and dedicated 4 years into the service. He fought for our freedom in the Lebanon War.  He then joined the Army in 1959 - 1963 where he was stationed in Germany.  In 1963 he enrolled in the University of St. Louis and graduated in the class of 1966 receiving his degree in Electrical Engineering .

John met his wife from England through a pen pal club in 1967. A year later John proposed to Pam by letter and went to England to meet her for the very first time.   They were married February 2nd 1968.

John continued to work as an Electrician and started his family owned business locally known in Skagit Valley as Bernie's Electric which then became Thornton Electric in the 80's.  He taught three of his sons about his trade and they are now Electricians.

A warm hearted man who loved to talk about his days in the service,  his work and tell jokes and make others laugh. He will be greatly missed by all, but this isn't goodbye, it's see you later.

A memorial Service will be held Thursday, July 21,2016 , 11:00am at Hawthorne Funeral Home, Mount Vernon, WA.