Texie Hill

Texie Jayne Thornley Hill passed peacefully on Wednesday, December 29, 2021 at the home of her daughter in Kaysville, Utah.  Texie was born March 19, 1932 in Richmond, Utah to James Done and Essie Jane Stoddard Thornley.  She was the third of seven children.

Texie loved being a Cache Valley girl and often spoke fondly of her memories growing up in Smithfield.  She never missed an opportunity to take a field trip with her children and grandchildren through Smithfield, Richmond and Lewiston to show them where she spent her childhood years.

When Texie was in the 8th grade her family moved to Layton, Utah when her father started working at Hill Air Force Base.  They lived in Verland Park until they finished their home on 3rd East in Kaysville.

Texie attended No. Davis Jr. and Davis High where she made lifelong friends that she cherished.  There she was courted by the dashing and athletic farm boy, Jr. Hill, from West Kaysville.  That romance blossomed and Jr. and Texie were married soon after graduating high school on May 29, 1950 in the Salt Lake Temple.  And so the adventures began…

The first home for the new couple was a little house trailer in Wyoming where Jr. worked as a ranch hand.  That only lasted a short time and they soon returned to Kaysville to the family farm where Jr. worked alongside his father and brother Glen.  Texie and Jr. raised their four children in their new red brick home on Angel Street.  In addition to raising kids and feeding the farm help, Texie worked for 13 years as a teller at The First National Bank of Layton.

In December of 1981 after selling the farm in Kaysville, Texie and Leonard (Jr.) packed up everything they owned (except the food storage) and moved to Halfway, Oregon where they lived for almost 30 years.  They purchased a ranch in the Sunset Valley and lived their dream.  Texie worked alongside Leonard when he needed her to drive the tractor while feeding cattle, doctoring calves, fencing, or irrigating pastures.  Halfway became Disneyland for their children and grandchildren where instead of amusement park rides, they would work cattle, ride horses, haul hay, play in the barn or go fishing.  Texie always fixed the best meals and everyone loved to sit around the table and listen to her and Leonard tell stories from their past. Her Sunday pot roast was the best!

While in Halfway, Texie developed a love for quilting.  She had a talent for coordinating fabric that would make beautiful quilts. Many of her quilts won blue ribbons in the Baker County Fair along with her bottled fruit and pies.

Many lifelong friends were made in Halfway as they served in the community and in the Halfway Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

After leaving Halfway, Texie was able to fulfill her dream of building a home at Bear Lake. For the past ten years she has welcomed family and friends to her home and provided love, hospitality and beach toys.  There she cared for Leonard in the last few years of his life.

In her lifetime, Texie served in the Relief Society, Primary, Young Women’s and anywhere else she was needed.  Texie’s life was a living testimony of faith and service.  Even into her 89th year, her days were filled with meeting the needs of her family and neighbors. She is a true disciple of Christ.

Texie was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Leonard W. Hill, brother Jay Done Thornley, son David T. Hill, and great grandson Bode James Barkdull.  She is survived by sisters Janice Anderson, Carolyn (Wayne) Stromberg, Ruth (Dennis) Newman, Suzanne (Steve) Willey and brother Joseph (Carolyn) Thornley, children Heidi Hill, Kevin (LeRae) Hill, Jayne (Brice) Barkdull and daughter-in-law Kim Anderton Hill, 11 grandchildren and 29 great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. at the Rock Chapel, 25 South 200 East, Kaysville, Utah. Friends may visit with family Tuesday, January 4, 2022 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lindquist's Kaysville Mortuary, 400 North Main, Kaysville, Utah and Wednesday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the church.  Interment, Kaysville City Cemetery.

Services will be live-streamed and may be viewed at www.lindquistmortuary.com by scrolling to the bottom of Texie's obituary page.

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