Eugene Arnold Thornton

Graveside services for 93-year old Eugene “Gene” Thornton of Crawford, NE, are Friday, Sept, 15^th at 10:00 a.m. at the Crawford Cemetery with Father Arul officiating.

Cremation was arranged by Chamberlain Chapel in Chadron.

Friends are welcome to join the family for the services and a lunch and a time to share memories that will follow the services at the St John the Baptist Catholic Church Parish Hall in Crawford.

The family asks that In lieu of flowers, donations be made in Gene’s memory of Gene to Home  Health and Hospice at Chadron Community Hospital, the Crawford Historical Society or the Crawford Fire Department.

Eugene Arnold “Gene” Thornton was born March 20, 1930, to Fred and Mary Jane Lovell Thornton. He passed away July 25, 2023, at home south of Crawford surrounded by his wife and daughters.  

Gene was born on the family farm homesteaded by his grandfather, William Thornton, which included the old White Clay Stage Station. His grandfather lived in the old station until it burned in December 1893, then he built the farmhouse that still stands and where Gene died. The barn and other outbuildings and sheds were added over the years.  

Gene lived and worked on the homestead most of his  life. He started school at rural school District 60 about 4 miles south of Crawford, graduated from Crawford High School in 1948, and attended Chadron State College for one semester.  

Gene married his high school sweetheart, Bettirae LaVon Holder, September  9, 1950, and resided in Crawford. To this union four children were born: Shelley  Jean, Debra Sue, James Fredrick, and Cynthia Rae.

Gene held various jobs off the farm. He surveyed for the soil conservation service, dropped explosives in the holes with a seismograph crew test-drilling for oil, pumped gas and changed oil at local gas stations, and sprayed undercoat on new cars and installed seat covers at Abe Chicoine’s Ford Garage. He later worked at Crawford Implement, also installing seat covers.  

After his father’s death in 1957, Gene moved his family to the farm, where he took over the farming and ranching. He raised Hereford cattle, but later switched to Black Angus. Over the years he also raised wheat, oats, alfalfa hay, and corn. 

Gene was a steward of the family homestead: fixing fence around the perimeter and warding off poachers as he maintained, repaired, and rebuilt the farm equipment and vehicles himself using his prior experience in overhauling tractors, cars, pickups and  trucks.

In the wintertime it was common to smell John Deere paint from the drying  parts by the kitchen woodstove. He also obtained several bicycles, rebuilt them, and then enjoyed riding them around town and out at Fort Robinson. Whenever  grandkids were around, he’d load up the bikes and kids in his Chevy Silverado  pickup and head to town.

Gene worked hard at stacking bales by hand, teaching the daughters how to run equipment and build decent hay stacks, feeding the cattle hay on cold winter mornings, moving snow to open driveways and roadways, and occasionally pulling out folks (including the wife and daughters) stuck in snowdrifts or ditches.

He watched over the cows during calving in the frigid winter. He would bundle up warmly, pump-up and light a kerosene lantern, and head out in the dark on cold, snowy nights to check the cows. He sometimes had to rescue a newborn calf from the icy creek or pull a calf when a mother was having trouble. 

Gene was mechanical, industrious, and creative, and had many interests and hobbies as well as being extremely knowledgeable, skilled and talented.

He belonged to the Crawford Chamber of  Commerce, served on the Rural Fire Department and District 60 School boards, was a member of St John the Baptist Catholic Church, and occasionally donned the Santa suit for Christmas programs.

Gene liked to learn about local history and since the Sidney-Deadwood Trail passed by the farm, he researched its history. As a member of the Crawford Historical Society, he went on an excursion with others to trace the trail, record ruts, and locate relay station sites. He later created signs and helped place them near the sites.

Gene’s family had a pond up the creek where they cut ice in the winter and  sold to folks for their iceboxes. They ran a sawmill up the creek and cut lumber for selling or building using a steam engine.

Gene bought the components of a more modern sawmill in the 70’s, put it together, built the housing from native pine, and  powered it off the Allis-Chalmers tractor. He did some custom sawing and built two rooms onto the old house with the help of Jerry Lindblom and cousin, Paul  Lovell, using native pine he sawed with the mill.

Gene enjoyed building and woodworking, so he built corrals, feed bunkers, winter hay storage shelters, and sheds for farm equipment. He was always on the lookout for a ‘nice’ piece of wood or old fence post.

He made many clocks and other decorative items such as sconces, candleholders, toys, and signs for several people. Many may recall a sign he made,  ‘The Iron Works,’ that hung above the door of Crawford Implement.

He participated in the annual Crawford Woodcutting Contest and was a champion woodcutter both with his chainsaw and on cross-cut saw with Jerry Lindblom.  

Gene’s other pastimes included his enthusiasm for CB Radio with ‘Breakneck’ as his handle. He liked to listen to the chatter of truck drivers on the highway and had friends and family members to converse with.

He loved country music and collected albums of his favorite artists including Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Charlie Pride, Tammy Wynette and George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Jeannie C Riley and many others. He got to see several artists in person at concerts, and he audio-taped the historical live satellite broadcast of Elvis Presley’s Aloha from Hawaii.

Gene played the trombone in high school band and tried his  hands at boxing. He liked to swim and recalled the spring and creek-fed pond up the creek his dad constructed for ice in the winter and a swimming hole in the summer.

When he was young, he learned to swim when the Parrish boys came to the pond and Darrel Parrish threw him in – making it sink or swim for him.

Once he learned, Gene enjoyed swimming and did so at area lakes and dams, Cascade Falls. and Evan’s Plunge in Hot Springs – where he’d really holler loud when he went down the big slide. Afterwards, he’d hang his swimming trunks on the car antenna to dry while driving.

One hot afternoon in summer when some grandkids were visiting the farm, Gene came in from working in the field, went in the house, put on his swimming trunks, and came running out yelling excitedly jumping in the kiddie pool to cool off. They all had a good laugh. 

Gene’s other interests included old tractors. He’d go to the annual Black Hills Steam Shows with Paul Lovell, and once in Crawford he won an antique tractor pull with his dad’s Allis-Chalmers.

Gene and Bettirae were members of The Grand Squares and square danced at several locations around the area and in Cheyenne during Frontier Days, which he took in several times.

Gene traveled to Lovell family reunions with his Uncle Rusty, and recalled his dad taking him as a youngster to the San Francisco World’s Fair at Treasure Island. Towards the end of his life, Gene said he’d been to many places and seen many sights, but never got to Texas, North Dakota, nor east of the Missouri  River.

Gene enjoyed western TV shows and movies. His favorite actor was John Wayne and he  collected many of his movies. He also liked to read and talk about true historical western characters who hung around Nebraska and South Dakota  including Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok. and Doc Middleton. 

Gene retired from farming some years ago and no longer did woodworking, although he still turned clocks and other items on the ShopSmith for family and friends. 

Gene lived a long  life blessed with generally good health and abounding strength and mostly blessed with those he knew and loved. He was a man of many talents and a hard worker.

Gene will be missed by his wife Bettirae; daughters Shelley (Paul) Roby of rural Crawford; Debra (Bill) Mack of rural Harrison; and Cynthia (Benjamin) Herrera of Crawford; grandchildren Julie Graham of Arvada, CO; Jay (Jennifer) Mack of Liberty Hill, TX; Barry (Kendra)  Mack of Gering, NE; Shane (Misty) Mack of Lincoln, NE; Laura (Montana) Button of Harrison; Christopher Herrera of Conroe, TX; Alicia Herrera of Twentynine Palms, CA; and Brittany (Aaron) McArthur of Broken Arrow, OK; 17 great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews including Jack and Roy Garner  and Patty (Melvin) Jones; numerous extended family members; other relatives; friends;  and hunters. 

Among those preceding Gene in death are his infant son James Fredrick Thornton; his parents; sisters Rosemary Ione Stansbury and Dorothy Joan (Verne) Basse; half-siblings Vernon Thornton, Madge Close, Esta Soden, Thelma Riddle, Ruth Garner, Irene Thornton, Hazel McCune, and Leonard Thornton; his  grandparents; numerous aunts and uncles from the Thornton and Lovell families; cousin Paul Lovell; and many other relatives and close friends.

Gene’s family wishes to express their deepest appreciation to the Hospice staff from Chadron Community Hospital for their loving support. They also wish to thank Father Arul for visiting Gene in person at home and for giving him last rites and communion.

Chamberlain Chapel of Chadron is in charge of arrangements for Gene Thornton.