On November 23, 1955, Larry Alanza Thornton was born to the late John Hill and the late Hattie Pearl Thornton. Larry was the youngest of four siblings. He attended Richmond public schools and completed that portion of his education at John F. Kennedy High School. As the natural scholar that he was, Larry went on to obtain his GED, cooking certification, electrical certification, and brick masonry certification. In this computer world, he aced classes at J. Sargent Reynolds without the use of the computer. He was a master of numbers; remembering birthdays, addresses and phone numbers from the 60's. Larry loved to express himself thru poetry and has a collection of original poems and stories.

Larry leaves to cherish his memory his son, Melvin Jones (Jewel) of Arizona; daughter, Kolescia Bennett of Florida; grandchildren, Loren Jones and Dominic Jones of Arizona; sister, Peaches Buggs of D.C.; two brothers, James Thornton of Richmond; and Andrew "Johnny Boy" Thornton of Florida; a host of nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, other relatives and friends. Larry's cool, calm demeanor will be missed by many.