She attended Ava schools, graduating from Mountain Grove Mrs. Norma Lou Bishop Thornton, 62, of Independence, Kan., formerly of Mountain Grove, died on Nov. 12, 2007, from cancer at Hospice of Kansas City.
She was born in Douglas County on Dec. 4, 1944, to the late Oscar Earl Bishop and the late Ethel Rae Henson Bishop. She was the granddaughter of the late I. P. and Hattie Henson of the Coldsprings/Champion area.
She attended Ava schools and graduated from Mountain Grove High School with the class of 1962.
She was retired from the federal government and was a homemaker.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Larry Thornton and infant son, Timmy Thornton.
She is survived by her daughter, Tricia and son-in-law, Mark Lawson, and their two sons of Olathe, Kan.; her son, Troy and daughter-in-law, Raylee, and their two children of Rifle, Colo.; sisters, Helen Raye Snider, of Ellijay, Ga., and Glenda Kaye Hartsock, of Columbus Junction, Iowa; and her stepmother of 49 years, Henretta Bishop, of Muscatine, Iowa.
Her body was cremated, and interment was in the Independence, Kan., Cemetery family plot.
A celebration of her life will be held at her home in Independence, Kan., on Dec. 4.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her honor to any Animal Humane Society or to cancer research.
