Wil Thornley

Wil Thornley
Wilson David Thornley (Wil) 24, was born on a beautiful, crisp, cloudless day in Logan, Utah on May 3, 1990, the first of five children born to David B. and Stephanie Wilson Thornley. He came into this life with his large mouth hollering as if to say, "this is going to be a wild, wonderful ride" as it certainly has been. Words cannot express the anguish we feel at his passing, but our hope of a glorious resurrection remains.
As an infant, Wil was able to spend a couple months living with his parents and his great grandfather. At nine months of age Wil's father was shocked to hear him say his first word, "banana". His ability to speak in full sentences at a very early age befuddled those who came in contact with him at the grocery store, church, family gatherings and other public places. Indeed, his keen mind and gift of speech and later gift of persuasion served him well. As a toddler and young boy, his athletic prowess was legendary. His primary mode of transportation was bounding on all fours around the house similar to a kangaroo. It was a sight to behold, unique to "Willy".
The family moved to Sandy, Utah for a year, then in the fall of 1992, "Willy" and his parents moved to Layton, Utah in their own first home. He welcomed his beloved sister Tiffany to the family in January of 1993. Later, another beautiful girl, Emily, came in February 1996. Wil began his formal schooling at Whitesides Elementary. It became clear that he liked to be precise, accurate and…right. He learned the scientific names of scores of dinosaurs as his curious mind would voraciously study with his parents. This soon extended to literally thousands of other animals. In second or third grade "Willy" came home after class studying eagles wanting to know which one was the largest. He was relentless in pursuit to know the one, single, correct answer. After referencing several books and back and forth with his parents, the answer was finally clear in young Willy's mind. His teacher brought up the topic the next day and named a certain eagle as the largest, but Willy did not agree and had done his homework. A battle ensued and Willy was able to prove his point and win the heated argument!
In 2001, the family returned to Logan. In May of 2002 twins Megan and Kade joined the family whom Wil deeply loved. He was a happy, wonderful big brother to them and his other two sisters. In high school he developed his wonderful sense of humor and ability to make friends quickly. He graduated from Logan High School in 2008 where he was active in athletics, particularly football. He was often seen honoring the twins with "Kade" and "MeMe" inscribed on his eye black for games. He was extremely proud of his team's football success, earning two state championships in 2005 and 2007.
In 2008-2009, he was able to continue his education at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona. He grew from this experience away from home as he learned to juggle school work while playing football. He again found success on the football field earning a starting running back position.
Armed with his education and his unique ability to persuade others along with the desire to be the absolute best in his field, he pursued a career in the sales field, following the footsteps of his proud father. Possibly his greatest achievements came while working at Clearlink in Salt Lake City. His confidence grew as he was top sales associate for six months running, breaking numerous sales records. His manager spent hours listening to Wil deliver his own, customized pitch to learn his strategies and tricks of the trade. Not only did this result in generating more revenue for the company, it also served as great entertainment, listening to Wil's tremendous humor and communication skills.
Wil's passion for football was legendary. He watched college football on TV from nearly sun up to sundown each Saturday. Having learned from great coaches, he understood the game inside and out from schemes to individual technique at each position. Wil's greatest happiness came from watching, critiquing, dissecting, analyzing, yelling at, and devising plays for the coaches for his little brother’s football games; he lived for it!
Wil passed away on another beautiful day: Easter Sunday April 5th, 2015. He is survived by his mother and father, sisters Tiffany Carver (Jonny), Emily and Megan and brother Kade in addition to niece Macklin Carver. Also, grandparents Brian and Jean Thornley, Ron and Carole Wilson, great grandmother Dorothy Spendlove, uncles Scott Wilson (Sheryl), Kyle Wilson, Cory Wilson (Kim), Rusty Wilson (Lisa), Regan Wilson(Jenny), Bob Thornley (Deanne), Steve Thornley, Jon Thornley (Becca), and Mark Thornley (Heidi), aunt Christy Smoot (Mark) along with numerous cousins and friends. His life impacted many and he will never be forgotten. We long for the day when we can embrace again our sweet Wil. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 11, 2015 at 11:00 am in the Eastridge Ward Chapel, 1350 Eastridge Drive. There will be a viewing on Friday evening from 6-8 pm at the Allen-Hall Mortuary, 34 East Center and on Saturday from 9:30 - 10:30 am at the church. Interment will be in the Logan City Cemetery. Condolences and memories may be shared online at www.allenmortuaries.net