Mr. Elmer Thornton

Obituary Elmer Thornton departed this life on Friday, May 27, 2022, at St. Luke’s Hospice in Kansas City, Missouri. Elmer was the only child born to David Thornton and Sarah C. Patterson Thornton in Fry, Oklahoma on December 6, 1919. David Thornton died in 1919 after the family’s two week wagon trip to Dalton, Missouri. Elmer accepted Christ at Dalton Baptist Church and moved to Kansas City at the age of eleven. He joined the Paseo Baptist Church and remained active for the Lord well into his nineties. He was educated in the Kansa City School system. Elmer met his wife of seventy-three years while serving in the military at Camp Leroy Johnson Army Base in New Orleans, Louisiana. No children were born to the union. Cecelia preceded Elmer in death following the dictator of God’s great commandment as expressed by Jesus. To love the Lord God with all his heart, soul and mind and to love his neighbor as himself, he did. He became God’s servant. He served forty years as doorkeeper (usher) in God’s house. He served as trustee, officer in the learning center (he loved children dearly); he served dinners two times weekly at the Kansas City, Kansas Community Center at 5th and Washington. He served his country in two wars (World War II and the Korean War), joined the reserves and was honorably discharged as a Staff Sargent. These actions were all testimonies to his faith in and obedience to God’s great commands. Elmer was a mechanic and shared ownership of a Service Station at 22nd and Vine. Some years later he was sole operator of the service station at 25th and Paseo across the street from Paseo Baptist Church. His last employment was with the U.S. Treasury Department. He printed Social Security checks monthly for thirteen states. He retired from the Treasury Department in December 1981. Elmer was a kind, pleasant, positive man who cheered you up, lifted your spirit and made you glad to know the Lord and hopefully to be more anxious to fulfill the great commission Matthew 28:19,20 – Go ye into all the world … Elmer Thornton leaves to cherish his memory: many cousins; paternally, Clara Ramsay and Marietta Harris. Funeral Service will be held Saturday, June 11, 2022, 11:00am at Paseo Baptist. Interment Floral Hills Cemetery. Visitation will be from 10am-11am at the church. Service conducted by Lawrence A. Jones & Sons Funeral Chapel. Condolences may be shared on our website. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mr. Elmer Thornton, please visit our floral store. Read More

Mr. Elmer Thornton

December 6, 1919 - May 27, 2022