Michael Denis DeArmond Thornton, Jr.

Mike, Mick, Mickey. If you knew him in business or friendship or family, he may have a different name than his birth certificate. His parents named him after his father, whose parents used a name from their family tree that none of us know much about. He was born in our nation’s capital and was brought up in Montgomery County, MD. The longest years of his life- age 29 to 66 in Laurel! He was a traveling worker for awhile, one of the original gas station attendants, and he learned bank lending. I met him just after he traded his suit and tie for a tool belt and bandana. I think he always knew how to build, and repair. Not just a job, but a lifestyle. At 36 years old he first became a father. After some nervous hives, he took that role very well. How proud he must have felt when her first word was Da-da.