Robert Thorson; Retired U.S. Navy Captain

Retired Navy Capt. Robert Thorson, a much-decorated veteran and 34-year Ventura County resident, died late last week after a brief illness. He was 90.

During his 28-year naval career, Thorson served in Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Hawaii, Egypt and the Persian Gulf. He also was commander of the 31st Naval Construction Regiment in Port Hueneme.

Known by his friends and family as a great storyteller, he used to talk about his hunting trips with King Farouk of Egypt, dinners with world dignitaries and trips to see the pope at the Vatican.

“People used to love to sit around him at the dinner table and listen to his stories,” Thorson’s longtime friend John Gerard of Oxnard said. “He could just talk on and on.”

Before joining the Navy, Thorson worked for the California Division of Highways, where he engineered the state’s first freeway system.

After his retirement in 1969, he was public works director for the city of Oxnard for five years.

Thorson was a member of the Navy League of the United States, the Retired Officers’ Assn., Oxnard Rotary Club, Friends of the Bard Mansion and a life member of the Port Hueneme Chamber of Commerce.

He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Norma Thorson; two sisters, Betty Kellogg of Boulder, Colo., and Marjorie Parsons of Arlington Va., and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother, Charles Thorson.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, with services the following day at 1:30 p.m. Both will be held at the James Reardon Mortuary in Oxnard. Inurnment will be private at Arlington National Cemetery.