Roy Alma Thornock

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWZ7-16T
• Initiatory (LDS): 8 Oct 1925, LOGAN

Roy married Daisy Dell Gordon on 3 Apr 1925 in Emmett, Gem, Idaho, United States. Daisy (daughter of Lewis Waterman Gordon and Jeanette Rebecca Carter) was born on 18 Dec 1907 in New Plymouth, Payette, Idaho, United States; died on 19 Dec 1975 in Caldwell, Canyon, Idaho, United States; was buried on 23 Dec 1975 in Emmett, Gem, Idaho, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWZ7-16P
• Initiatory (LDS): 5 Jun 1956, IFALL

Notes:

LIFE SKETCH OF LEWIS GORDON THORNOCK
Written by Dorene Thornock Krum, his daughter

Lewis Gordon Thornock was born on October 16, 1936 in Letha, Idaho. H e w as the second child born to Roy Alma Thornock and Daisy Dell Gordon , join ing his older brother Kenneth Roy Thornock.
One of his earliest memories that us kids have enjoyed hearing about w a s when he rode his tricycle to Letha. That’s where his dad was and he w an ted to go too. He had to cross the highway and his mother was quite un hap py with him and came after him with a willow.
He went to the Old Letha School most of the time and 1 or 2 grades at B r amwell.
Dad had a horse named Dixie and a dog named Ring. Ring would ride on Di x ie with him. When his dog died, he was very sad. He also had a horse na me d Snippy. The clothesline was close to the pasture and one day his mot he r had hung out a batch of clothes. She went back to the house and whe n sh e came out again, Snippy had pulled her pajamas off the clotheslin e and w as chewing on them. Needless to say, she wasn’t very happy abou t that.
Dad went to high school in Emmett. They went to the building across fr o m the city park that became Park View Junior High (which is no longer t he re). He learned to play the saxophone and was in the school band. He m us t have been pretty good because I can remember him pulling out the ol d sa x a few times to play for fun and we enjoyed it, especially when h e woul d sing “Hello Dolly” and he sounded just like Louis Armstrong .
In high school they started an orchestra and played for dances. Alma a n d her son, Jake Jensen, played the piano and the drum. His cousin, Bas i l Harrison, played the trumpet and Dad played the saxophone. They call e d themselves the Letha Ork. They played for several years after Dad go t m arried.
When Dad was a sophomore, they got new neighbors across from Little Roc k , on the Whitely place. The first time he remembers seeing any of the m wa s when three girls got on the school bus. The oldest one, Anne Mari e Thay n, was in the 8th grade. They dated during the next year and the n her fam ily moved. Her father rented the farm and worked in constructio n for hi s brother.
Dad got his first car, a ‘4l Plymouth – two-toned green. He was prett y p roud of it. Thayns came back for a visit and to check on the farm whe n sc hool was out in 1953 and he has happy to be able to show off his ca r .
One of Dad’s first jobs was working night shift at the cannery in Payet t e. He also started driving milk truck for Harold Morehouse. In Novembe r 1 954 the Thayn family moved back to Emmett. Dad started going with Ann e ag ain. He didn’t have quite enough credits to graduate, so the next ye ar h e went back for half a day and graduated in 1955 from the new high s choo l that had been build on 4th Street.
Dad worked for Purity Bakery in Boise. He would stay with Kenneth and h i s wife in Boise during the week and come home on weekends. He got up ev er y morning at 4:30 to go to work. On the 16th of December 1955 he cam e bac k to Emmett to take Anne to the Sweetheart’s Ball at the high schoo l. Th e next night he played for a dance at Weiser, and Sunday night he w as to o tired to go back to Boise, so Monday morning he got up extra earl y to g o to work. He went to sleep outside of Boise and hit a power pol e and bar ely missed two trees, wrecking his car. He was lucky not to b e hurt.
After the wreck he decided to get Anne an engagement ring. He wrappe d i t up and then put it in a bigger box. He had asked her if she would a ccep t a ring if he gave it to her and her answer was ‘yes.’ Then just be for e Christmas he told her he hoped she wouldn’t be too disappointed no t t o get a ring because he had to pay to fix his car. Christmas was o n a Sun day that year and she came to dinner at his house. He handed he r the bi g box. She unwrapped it and eventually found the ring and was ve ry surpri sed. Dad always did enjoy being a kidder!
Then on Tuesday, June 5, 1956 Dad and Mom traveled to Idaho Falls whe r e they were married for time and eternity. When they came back for the i r reception in Emmett, Dad hid their car so it didn’t get decorated. In st ead their parents cars both got painted ‘Just Married.”
Dad worked for the bakery until January 1957 when he was told they didn ’ t need him any more. It turned out to be a blessing and the company so o n went bankrupt. Dad started driving milk truck and on March 1st wen t t o work driving the milk truck full time.
On March 19, 1957 Dad and Mom became parents of a baby girl they name d D orene. Actually, it was a couple of weeks before she even had a nam e beca use they couldn’t come up with a name they both agreed on. Mom sai d she w ouldn’t go to the hospital again without names picked out .
Then in August 20, 1958, I (Brent) was born here in Emmett. The followi n g year they changed the boundaries of the two Emmett wards and my paren t s were moved into the Emmett First Ward. That year for Christmas my da d t raded his pistol in and got a tricycle for Dorene and a red wagon fo r m e (Brent). We didn’t know that until many years later .
On July 17, 1962 Yvonne was born and on the day after Thanksgiving th a t year which was on Mom’s birthday we moved into our home on Moffatt. M o m and Dad had gone past it after church a lot and said it would sure b e n ice if they could live in that house, but they didn’t really think i t wou ld happen, but they were excited when they were able to actually mo ve int o their first home.
November 21, 1963 their fourth child was born, but this time it wasn ’ t the usual happy occasion. Something had gone wrong and the baby was b or n stillborn. That was difficult for my parents and I can remember so c lea r having Dad gather us kids and tell us we had to work all that muc h hard er to we could all be together with our little baby brother .
It was a real occasion if we got to take any overnight trips becaus e o f Dad’s milk route, but on his 30th birthday we got to go to McCall t o ce lebrate his birthday and that was a big deal to us .
On June 1, 1967 Alex Lewis Thornock was born (after 36 hours) and he se e med healthy and did well. About the time Alex got home from the hospit a l Dad was called on a stake mission and accepted the call. When Alex w a s 6 weeks old, the doctor said he had a heart murmur and he was take n t o a specialist in Boise. All the doctors said by the time he was thro ug h his teen-age years, it might go away and they were to bring him bac k wh en he was 6 months old. When he was 6 months old, the doctor said hi s hea rt was completely normal. They knew this was an answer to prayer.
I can remember that when was Dad was a missionary that he would alway s r emind us that it was really important not to have any fighting or arg uin g because he needed to feel the spirit when he went out doing mission ar y work and it was real important to leave home with good feelings. Dor en e can also remember spending time with him helping him to memorize th e di scussions and a lot of scriptures. He served as a stake missionary f or tw o years.
In May of 1969 his dad, Grandpa Thornock, had a stroke and was reporte d t o have extensive brain damage. Grandpa was in a coma for several week s. O n Alex’s second birthday, Grandpa was moved from the hospital to th e Elk s and on the same day Mom was put in the Stake Relief Society as th e firs t counselor at Stake Conference.
In September, Dad went to Young Men’s as the new superintendent and Dore n e went to Young Women’s for the first time. It was a dance and every ti m e Dorene hears ‘Hitchin’ A Ride,’ the song they danced to, she remembe r s that day.
It wasn’t until February of 1970 that Grandpa was able to go home to th e ir home on the bench.
In September of that year, we got the new family home evening manuals a n d the theme for the year was to make home heaven on earth. We began rep ea ting, “I am important because I belong to this family that loves me. I t i s possible to make home a bit of heaven on earth.” We said this afte r ou r family prayer in the morning and evening. It really made us be a l ot mo re conscious of having harmony in our home.
During this time there were several individuals who considered buying t h e milk route. Several times it almost happened, but then it would fal l th rough.
Dad became stake athletic director and our whole family would go to t h e games together.
On August 31, 1972 Dad and I (Brent) took the route for the last time . I t was kind of a bummer that the bank called and said the check wasn’ t an y good, but by the next day they got it straightened out because th e ban k had taken the check out of the buyer’s personal account rather th an hi s business account. What a relief!
During the month of September Dad wasn’t employed, but he was never o n e to sit idle. He looked for a job and painted the outside of the hous e . He was also called to be the ward clerk when Bishop Morton became th e n ew bishop. He worked for Scott’s Appliance, Adco West and Gem Suppl y Co-o p, then worked for Phillips 66.
Dad and I didn’t always see things exactly the same when it came to t h e church standards on hair length. He told me that “obedience is the ve hi cle to the celestial kingdom and also to get to drive the car.” Let’ s jus t say that there were some times I had no transportation….
Later on, Dad drove the bus from here to Boise and also worked here a s t he church custodian, at TechniChem, Maxway, Boise School Bus Company , Bis hop’s Storehouse, American Cancer Society, O’Barto Produce, Roundtr ee, an d Edmark Chevrolet.
Then in January of this year, he was diagnosed with cancer of the bladd e r. The following week he was told that he had Parkinson’s Disease, an d th e week after that he had surgery to remove his bladder. Life has no t bee n easy for Dad and I guess that means the Lord felt like he could h andl e all these things and he was just being tested. We are grateful fo r th e time we have been allowed to spend with him and for all he has tau ght u s.

Some of our favorite memories
Barbecues in the backyard, climbing on Dad when he was on his back wi t h his hands and feet in the air and trying to stand on his feet

Going up to Swinging Bridge for a picnic and hike

Going with Dad on the milk truck

Christmases when Dad would always say, “Now I hope you kids won’t be d i sappointed; it doesn’t look like Santa left much.” I think he may hav e fe lt that way, but I don’t think any of us kids ever felt like that.

We learned Mom and Dad’s secret language for a few things. Upstairs me a nt Dad wanted ice cream and RBF stood for root beer floats. They alway s s aid “Oh Mr. Ryder,” but I still don’t know what that means.

Dad was always so sincere in teaching us kids. He wouldn’t ask us t o d o anything he wouldn’t do himself and he was very diligent in doing w ha t was right. It was really important to him to make sure we understoo d th e importance of making good choices.

One of the few times Dad didn’t take the milk truck was when he got h i s appendix out and had to have someone else take his route…not very ma n y people were physically able to handle the heavy milk cans. Brent wa s pr etty good help though and spent a lot of time going on the route wit h Dad .

Dad made us stilts and walked around on them

Dad was a perfectionist and would always say, “If you’re going to do s o mething, do it right.”

He used to never let us touch his hair, blue suede shoes, singing li k e Louey Armstrong, loving to tease, etc.

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: K4XZ-GPF