Carolyn Ruth Thornton passed away peacefully in her home on May 18, 2017 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she has lived with her mother-in-law for 25 years. She was born in Chicago, Illinois May 15, 1948 to her mother, Hazel Stone and father, John Fickler. She lived with her mother in Pheonix until her mother passed away, and finished shcool living with her Aunt Evie and Uncle Bill in San Jose, California where she enjoyed roller skating and journalism. There she met and married her first husband Joe Petko in 1966, who she later moved to Arizona with and ended up in Criple Creek, Colorado where she divorced in 1969. In 1973 she married her second husband Michael Thornton, and in 1975 their only child Amanda was born. She loved the mountains, spent a few years working on her family tree in Ancestry.com, she loved god and her spiritual journey, and she loved not only her family but the family that she has created over the years. She had a very strong conncection to the Native American spirituality and studied Sufism, as well as attended CSL for many years. She is survived by her daughter, Amanda Thornton and grandson, Macajah Thornton.