William Joseph Thornton
(November 23, 1947 - December 21, 2013)

William Joseph Thornton, 66, of Huntington died December 21, 2013, at Cabell Huntington Hospital. An avid lover of history, music, animals and Huntington, he graduated from Marshall University and retired from the Social Security Administration. As part of his Graduate studies he spent three summers working on archeological dig sites in and around Winchester, England. He would also like you to know that he once saw Bo Diddley live along with his beautiful sister, The Duchess, and Jerome the Maraca Man. He is preceded in death by his parents, William Prince and Esther Stierhiem Thornton, and brother in law, William 'Bill' Dean. He is survived by three sons; William Shane, Ian Grey and Michael Todd Thornton; his sister, Nancy Dean; 5 grandchildren and a niece and nephew. Visitation is scheduled for Thursday, December 26 at Klingel Carpenter Mortuary from 5-7 p.m. with Funeral services to be held Friday December 27 at 2 p.m. Immediately following the service a procession will travel to Woodmere Cemetery's Corridor of Faith for his entombment. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial donations be made to Little Victories Animal Rescue of Ona, WV. "I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it." – Mark Twain "May your heart always be joyful and may your song always be sung. May you stay forever young" – Bob Dylan.