The Thornley family is very sad to announce the passing of loving husband, father and grandfather, Garry, on May 3, 2018. A celebration of his life will be held on Saturday, June 2, 11:00 AM at the Indiana World War Memorial, 55 E. Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Zionsville American Legion, 9950 E. 600 S., Zionsville, IN 46077.
Linda Stultz (Tucker)
Garry wrote me on classmates.com summer of 2014, and we’ve been in touch ever since. I called him in 2015 when he was in an Indiana rehab facility, and it was then he told me his younger brother, Larry, had died at age 56 of lung cancer. I mention this only because others may be wondering.
Bette Jo is correct, his enjoyable emails continued to the end, and his replies were well thought out and sincere. My sympathy to his family. I know he’ll be sorely missed.
Cameron B. Howie
Always the Mr. Cool at RHS!! Garry was a great classmate,a fellow Trackster, a fine Hockey player and very sorry about his passing.
God bless him and his family
Butch Howie
Michael G. Reissing
dear garry: ...and we thank you/haven't forgotten your sacrifices/battle-weary days as a ranger in viet nam... "leading the way!"
Joyce Rice (Wilson)
So sad to here about Garry's passing We were friends a long time and close members of the pickford gang:: Garry Larry Norm Mike Grant John Raymond Spent a lot of time in the Wilson basement playing "knuckles" and plotting our take over of Holcomb.. Bless your lifeGarry. You will be m,issed.
Sharron Gulick (Carpenter)
Garry has been a classmate since Kindergarten. Garry was always a great guy, with a wonderful sense of humor, and will be remembered for many, many reasons. Garry will be greatly missed. Blessings.
Norman Nettie
When Reissing called and told me about Garry's passing, it sure left a void inside me. It made me think of all the great times we (Thornley, Wilson, Reissing, Jewett and many others) had from grade school (Holcomb) thru good old RHS. You truly made life-long friends back in those days. It's hard to express your feelings about a true friend, so I'll just say "I salute you Capt. Thornley, you've served your time in Hell, now it's time to be with God and feel good again". Rest assured you will be remembered often, by many who knew you as a true friend.
Cynthia Ann Palk (Cohen)
Having reconnected with Garry at our 50th reunion and remembering so many good times from grade school through high school was definitely a highlight of the weekend. Sending great laughter through email and always asking after my husband and family. Garry will be missed by all Redford folks!
Michael G. Reissing
Jim Whitledge
In Memoriam
Colonel Garry W. Thornley
April 18, 1941- May 3, 2018
My Wife Pat and I attended the Celebration of Garry's Life at the Indiana World War Memorial in Indianapolis, IN this past Saturday, June 2, 2018. In addition, I had the opportunity to speak and share some of my memories of Garry as a true friend over the past 63 years, beginning in 1955 when we entered Redford. Garry was in our wedding in 1964 and we were at his military marriage to Becky in 1969. Later, there were children's marriages attended as well. More memories included visits to Indianapolis for Indy 500 weekends at Garry and Becky's.
In speaking, I also told about memories from our time in high school and included excerpts from the In Memory section posted above. The 50 Year Reunion was the last one that Garry attended. Since 2009, I visited with Garry once or twice a year as he continued to struggle with his health. Over that time, he was in a rehab facility at times, Otherwise, he was confined to home, although I did manage to get him out to lunch a couple of times. Although his health continued to fail, his mind was always razor sharp and his long and short-term memories were right on. Garry talked about many memories from Redford and how great it was over the past serveral years to reconnect with classmates from RHS and Holcombe, as many have pointed out.
Garry will receive full military burial honors and family will be presented the burial flag at Arlington Cemetery later this year. We thank Garry for his service to our Country. "US Army, 14 years active duty, 16 years reserves, Infantry Airborne Ranger, Vietnam Vet and proud of it!; 21/2 years SE Asia, 4 years Europe" as he had summarized in his website profile.
There were several videos included in the Celebration of Garry's life. Garry's son Trent, posted them on YouTube. For those interested, simply open YouTube and put Garry Thornley Memorial in the Search section. You will see two separate videos, one for family, one for Army. You can also click on the circle T, with Trent Thornley to the right and you get all five videos that Trent posted.
Garry will be missed by many, Rest in Peace Garry.
Bette Jo Waddington (Dedic)
A lovely and fitting tribute of Garry.