Floyd Young Thornburgh

Floyd Young Thornburgh 1906 - 2011 Floyd Young Thornburgh was born August 31, 1906 in Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas. At the age of 9 months his family moved and settled in Old River, California. He passed away on Sunday, October 9, 2011. Graveside services will be Friday, October 14, at 11:00 a.m., at Union Cemetery. F.Y., or Young as he was also called, lived a full life. In his teens he earned a reputation as a bronc rider. But, being underage, whenever he won the $10 pot it was given to his mother. He played football for Kern County Union High School and after practice he would ride the train to Edison and walk home to Lamont. One day the train didn't stop and he had to jump off as the train rolled on. He was full of gravel from head to toe. That prompted his father to buy him a 1924 Ford for $125 and he didn't ride the trains from then on. Young was the last living player of the 1925 Kern County Union High School (Bakersfield High) State Championship team. When Young graduated from KCUHS he received a track scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley. He rode the train north only to return after 4 days because he missed his mother and family. From then on he wanted to see Bear Mountain every day that he woke up. He always said, Kern County has everything and you don't need to go anywhere else. During the depression, he helped serve the needy in soup lines at Hilltop. He also helped secure land for Sunset Camp and School which helped the immigrants of the Dust Bowl. Young managed ranches for G.D. Turnbow Enterprises in Bakersfield, Chowchilla and Half Moon Bay which included working with a dairy heifer replacement program for the U.S. State Department and South Korea. He farmed all his life and in the 1930's was named a California Young Farmer for his use of gypsum on alkali land. During World War II he made extra money by driving over the treacherous Grape Vine Ridge Route, selling beef to restaurants on Sunset Strip in Hollywood. He loved to dance so he and his future bride, Evelyn Ferguson, would then dance the night away at the classic Coconut Grove. F.Y. was a member of California Cattlemen's Association, Dairyman's, Kern County Sheriff Posse, and a judge for Palomino Horse Breeders Association. He raised and trained horses all his life. He loved giving horses away to children, and his one requirement was that the child be able to sign their name to the ownership papers. Education was important to F.Y. and he served on the Lamont School Board as well as the early Head Start program. F.Y. believed that learning something new every day kept him young. It must have worked. Young was preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn (1991) and fiancee Alice Hoff (2010). He is survived by his son, Harold (Marsha) Thornburgh of Bakersfield, daughter Sonnet (Jon) Barr of Moscow, Russia, grandson Philip (Allie) Thornburgh of Independence, CA , and great-grandchildren Evelyn and Charlie Thornburgh