Olive Kathleen Thornton

SEASIDE - Olive Kathleen (Bendall) Thornton – born 12/13/22, passed away in her Seaside home on Friday July 27, 2012 from natural causes. Olive was born in London and lived in Surrey with her mother, father and brother until she was 16 years old. She was sent with her brother to a farm in the countryside along with thousands of other London children to escape the Nazi air raids over the city. Once she turned 17, Olive joined the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) and worked as a teletype operator. She met US Army corporal Tip Thornton Sr. when she was 23 and they married in May, 1945. Tip returned to the States while Olive stayed in England to have their first born. After Sandra’s birth on April 19, 1946, Olive joined her husband Tip in South Florida. Olive lived in the Monterey Bay area since 1975 as a resident of both Santa Cruz and Seaside.

Her love of art began when she was 12 years old. She sketched, painted and studied her craft until the war began. When she came to America in 1946, she once again began to draw and paint. She attended art schools in Miami and New York, studying all areas of art. Once she moved to the Monterey Bay area, she attended art conferences at Asilomar and throughout California. Olive loved all forms of art, especially still life and flowers. She even sold a painting once in Santa Cruz.

Olive is survived by her daughter, Sandra Halliwell, of Marina and her son, Tip Thornton Jr. of Mooresville, NC. She is pre-deceased by her ex-husband, Tip H. Thornton in 2001. She was also pre-deceased by her parents, Arthur H. and Ellen S. Bendall. Her dog, Daisy, has been surrendered to the Monterey County SPCA, where she will be offered for adoption, hopefully, by a family with a big back yard and lots of kids.

Olive requested cremation and no services, although she has been taken to the Bayside Community Mortuary. In lieu of flowers, Olive would prefer donations made to the SPCA or other animal rescue organizations.