Richard (Rick) Edward Thornton passed away Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in St. Louis, Missouri.

He was born in Perrysburg on October 5, 1946, to Floyd and Jeannette Thornton.

Rick’s main challenge in life was being declared legally blind at an early age.

This did not stop Rick from enjoying life, however he was never able to obtain a driver’s license.

He enjoyed Mad Magazine, as well as episodes of Twilight Zone and the Outer

Limits on TV.

In the neighborhood, he was the first to have a chemistry set and excelled at making rotten-egg-smelling stink bombs.

In junior high, Rick excelled in shop, designing and making his own safe.

Rick was fascinated with combination locks and would call up his classmates and tell them the combination to the locks on their lockers for fun.

Rick graduated from Perrysburg High School in 1965 and worked in his brother-inlaw’s cycle shop in downtown Perrysburg.

From the skills picked up at the cycle shop, Rick was called to a job in St. Louis working on motorcycles, which he did for many years.

While in St. Louis, Rick obtained an associates degree in engineering and design from Florissant Valley Junior College. He rode his bicycle the 20 miles each way from his residence.

He frequently stayed and dined with the Sutters, friends from his childhood in Perrysburg.

Rick was an inventor. He designed and patented a device to wear while exercising in the cold, re-circulating ones breath to warm the air entering the lungs.

He also built several “push alongs,” which were machines attached to the back of his bicycles helping him ride up the very steep hills of St. Charles. One was made from a chainsaw engine and another from an electric motor. Both are in cycle shops nearby with a picture of their inventor.

Rick managed several workers at the Boone Center in St. Charles. He maintained the bailing machines and coworkers stated, “Rick could repair any piece of equipment they had.” He teased his workers relentlessly and they loved him for it. Rick was a fun-loving spirit.

Both parents and siblings, Thomas, Joanne and Annette Thornton, preceded Rick in death.