Kaye Thornton

Kaye Thornton obituary, Gilmer, TX

Kaye Thornton

Kaye Thornton Obituary

Obituary published on Legacy.com by McWhorter Funeral Home - Gilmer on Oct. 16, 2025.

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Graveside services for Kaye Thornton, 79, of Longview, Texas, will be held at 10:00 am, Friday, October 17, 2025, at Shady Grove Cemetery with Brother Derrell Bell officiating. Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. on Thursday at McWhorter Funeral Home.
Kaye was born on August 28, 1946, in Dallas, Texas, to Vernon Smith and Jewel Tutt and passed from this life on October 14, 2025, in Longview, Texas.
Kaye married Arvin "Al" Thornton on February 14, 1987, in Carrollton, Texas. She managed western stores for most of her life and was also a jailer at the Dallas County Jail. She was a member of the Gilmer Church of Christ for many years. Kaye enjoyed cooking, gardening, painting, shopping, rodeo, PBR, and Bingo. She enjoyed many things, but her most treasured accomplishments were being a caregiver for her mother, as well as being a mother and a grandmother.
Those left to cherish her memory are her son, Keith Wayne Dunn; stepchildren, David Carter Thornton, Arvin Leon Thornton Jr., and Stephanie Elizabeth (Thornton) Puryear; sister, Anita Hale; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren; as well as many nieces and nephews.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Vernon and Jewel; husband, Arvin "Al" Thornton, in 2020; and siblings, Dude Smith, Bill Smith, Darrell Smith, and Geneva Hindman.
The family would like to thank the staff at Hawkins Creek Assisted Living and Heart to Heart Hospice for their exceptional care.
Please visit Kaye's online registration book at www.mcwhorterfh.com to leave a memory for the family.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

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