Marion Thornley

Marion (Meyer) Thornley passed into the presence of her Lord on Thursday, February 23, 2023. In spite of three strokes suffered since 2019, her sense of humor and sweet temperament remained intact to the end.

Marion was the daughter of James and Clara Blendine Meyer, sister to Corolyn McHenry and Phillip Jackson Meyer, loving mother to Debora Ann Henry and Barbara Jayne Henry and phenomenal grandmother to Kory William Henry.

Born on May 18, 1924, Marion lived through the Great Depression growing up on a ranch in Montana and in suburban NJ. When WW2 broke out while she was in nursing school, Marion enlisted as a cadet nurse and served in Fort Dix, NJ caring for wounded GIs. After the war, she became a registered nurse and earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees (plus 32 credits towards her Doctorate degree). She was a school nurse in West Orange, NJ and did private duty nursing on summer breaks.

Marion loved to travel having visited China, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe and Scandinavia. She was an avid reader and loved needlepoint, sewing and people watching. Laying a patio, sealing a driveway, painting a house, or playing a couple of sets of tennis were not beyond her. And Marion never missed her grandson’s football games coming with her loud cowbell and strong voice to cheer him on.

Marion will be remembered for her sense of humor, her capacity for love, generosity and her abiding faith. She is now home with her Savior never to feel pain again.

A memorial reception will be held after the visitation at Barrett’s on the Pike (588 Baltimore Pike, Bel Air, MD 21014).

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Operation Blessing (www.ob.org).