400 Pay Tribute to Victim of Desert Crash

To his friends, John Matthew Thornton was a fun-loving, fast-living teen-ager who went out of his way to help others.

So it was hardly surprising that about 400 people gathered Thursday night at a memorial service here to eulogize the 19-year-old who was among four Orange County teen-agers killed in a desert crash last weekend.

Many of Thornton’s friends and relatives broke down in tears as they described their friendships with him.

“John loved to live life to the hilt,” said Bill Greenfield, the youth pastor at Anaheim United Methodist Church, which John sometimes attended. “If there was a wave to surf, if there was something to build, he would do it.”

“He lived 90 miles an hour with his pants on fire,” the pastor added. “If there’s one thing we’ve learned from John, it is to take care of the people you love.”

The memorial service took place in a grassy field outside the Vineyard Christian Fellowship church. With a half moon hanging in the sky, several friends stood in front of the rows of folding chairs to pay their final tribute to Thornton.

“We always had a good time,” said one teen-ager, who told the audience that he and Thornton were childhood friends. “He was a rebel. He makes me want to go out there and have fun, but put limits to it.”

Thornton’s father, William Thornton, said he was still in a state of shock.

“This is too much coming too fast,” he said. The father noted that he had spoken to many of his son’s friends who “are feeling more pain than I am.” He said he wanted to take the opportunity to urge them “to seek help for yourself.”

At the service, no mention was made about James Patterson, who was driving the car when it crashed on an isolated dirt road near Victorville.

The accident occurred early Saturday as Patterson and seven friends, all students at Katella High School in Anaheim, were returning home from an overnight camping trip. Police said Patterson lost control of the 1987 Chevy Suburban he was driving and veered into the desert, where the car flipped and rolled several times. Police said they found more than 40 empty beer cans in the vicinity of the wreckage and that the driver appeared to be drunk.

Patterson was released from San Bernardino Juvenile Hall three days ago. Prosecutors said Tuesday that they would wait until the conclusion of a police investigation, expected to take about two weeks, before deciding whether to file charges.

Three of the boys remain in serious condition.

William Thornton told the audience Thursday night that the four victims were buried near each other at the Pacific View Memorial Park, overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Newport Beach.

One of the victims, 16-year-old Jonothon Fabbro Curtis, was buried after a private service Tuesday. And memorial services for both Stephen Bender, 18, and Anthony Fuentes, 17, will take place at 10 a.m. today. Bender’s will be at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, and Fuentes’ will be at St. Gregory the Great Church in Whittier.