Connie Peterson Thornton

Connie Peterson Thornton, born October 4, 1938, passed away peacefully from complications of Alzheimer’s dementia on May 6, 2025. She was a beloved wife, mother, and friend. Born and raised in the small town of Santaquin, Utah, Connie lived a life dedicated to family and church.

Born 20 years after her oldest brother, Connie lovingly cared for both of her older parents, Soren Henry Peterson and Addie Armstrong Peterson, throughout her teen and early adult years. Her nuclear family included three brothers: Ainer (Mary Jane) Peterson, Wayne Peterson, and William Blaine (Rose) Peterson, and one sister: Aileen (Richard) Peterson Lant.

Connie was dedicated to her church—the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She had a remarkable experience when she was baptized and confirmed as a member of the church. She received the Holy Ghost at the time she was confirmed, and she received a strong testimony of the reality of God and the truthfulness of the church. Her parent did not attend church; they sent her instead. From a young age, she walked to church alone every Sunday, even if it was snowing. She never told her children that her path was uphill both ways, but at times it was very cold in the winter in Santaquin.

Connie served as Sunday School Secretary when she was a teenager, and she took her assignment very seriously despite her young age.

Connie graduated from Payson High school in 1957, where she loved to dance. She enjoyed attending the Sunday Payson band concerts with her friends. Soon after graduation, she met and married J Tyler Thornton, who was from Orem, Utah, on June 10, 1958. As young marrieds, they lived in Spanish Fork, Utah, Flaming Gorge, Utah, and Santaquin, Utah.

Connie raised four children: Julie Thornton, Jeffrey Thornton, Bradley (Renee) Thornton, and Christopher Thornton. Soon after her son Bradley was born in 1967, the family moved from Santaquin, Utah to Santa Ana, California. She lived in Santa Ana for the rest of her life.

Connie poured herself into her family, emphasizing love and church service. Connie showed her love for her family by taking really great care of them and building their faith. When her children were small, Connie taught them to pray, and she sat by their beds every night to hear their prayers, and she taught and testified to them frequently in words and by her actions of the reality of God and Jesus Christ from the time they were very young.

Connie was known for her baking. She baked homemade bread most days for Brad and Chris to eat when they came home from school. They would broil some homemade bread toast with grape jelly and munch it down while they watched afternoon police dramas. Later, she bought a bread maker, and her family enjoyed bread made that way for several years. She also baked pies for holidays, especially at Christmas. She would bake for days, and then she would give away all of her baked goodies to friends in the ward. In addition, she made her famous chocolate chip cookies all the time. She made these cookies for her kids to take to school for lunch. She always included a big bag of cookies in their brown bag lunches. These cookies were always popular with her children’s friends, so there were always enough so that her kids could eat all they wanted and then trade for other things their friends brought for lunch.

When Brad was in the hospital when he was about12 years old, Connie went to the hospital every day and sat with him and talked to him all day, encouraging him to get well. The nurses were amazed at her constant and consistent support, and they asked if he was her only child. They were surprised to learn that she had three other children!

Connie generally worked in the home, taking care of her children and babysitting the young children of other busy moms. She really loved young children, and the children she babysat were loved and treated like a part of her family. Once, a mother for whom Connie babysat arranged for another person to pick up her child. When the alternate person arrived to pick up the child, Conie got the child ready to go and then asked to see a driver’s license to be sure it was the right person. The woman who showed her Driver’s License told the mother that she was surprised at how much Connie cared about that child.

As her children grew, Connie continued to serve them and to serve others in the church. She had many friends among the sisters of her ward, and they spent time together and served one another as they raised their families. She was an excellent church visiting teacher for many years.

Family vacations were always road trips to Utah to see extended family. In this way, her kids stayed close to their cousins in Utah.

Connie supported her children as they participated fully in church activities, including driving them daily to seminary and to other activities when they were in junior high and high school. Connie was a Cub Scout leader and merit badge counselor for all three of her sons. She was briefly even a Scout Leader at one point for Jeff’s Scout troop. That didn’t last long. They had to find a male Scoutmaster because that group of Scouts once took turns jumping off the roof of her house while she was trying to lead a meeting. All three of her sons participated extensively in scouting, and Brad and Chris are both Eagle scouts.

In addition, Connie served in the Primary organization for most of her life, teaching Sunday lessons to children of many ages in her ward to help build their faith in Jesus Christ. Later, she served for many years in the ward library, handing out pictures and extra scriptures to teachers and members in the ward on Sundays and keeping the library organized.

Connie sang in the choir and included music in her family’s life. She enjoyed singing very much, even though she was never a soloist. Her family sang hymns and Primary songs a lot, and Connie often sang ‘Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” rather frequently (and loudly) to wake up tired teenagers.

Connie was a great strength to her children, and she was always willing to listen and give advice to help them face their challenges as they built their adult lives.

When her husband, Tyler, was diagnosed with leukemia, Connie took devotedly cared for him for the five years he fought the cancer. She went with him to all of his appointments and sat with him during his all-day infusions. She comforted him after his chemo treatments, and she tried to get him to eat whenever he could hold food down to build up his strength. Tyler passed away from the leukemia in 2002.

Later in life, Connie’s health declined so much that she was unable to attend church regularly, and she developed Alzheimer’s dementia over the last few years. Church members rallied around her and visited her frequently. Their visits always uplifted her spirits, and they were always very appreciated.

On May 6, 2025, Connie passed away peacefully at the Kaiser Sand Canyon Hospital in Irvine, surrounded by her loving family and caring medical personnel