Bill Thorn, who helped “put Channel 6 on the map,” died of pancreatic cancer at his Denver home on Aug. 10. He was 79.
Thorn was one of a handful of people who energized KRMA-Channel 6, said Kathy Post, who worked with Thorn. It was while Thorn was at the station that its auctions started. They have become a basis of KRMA’s fundraising.
Thorn was the station’s public relations director, did fundraising and wrote scripts for several programs, said his wife, Joyce Thorn.
The scripts included episodes on gliding, races up Pike’s Peak and immigration in Colorado.
He also edited films and did research for the station.
“He was very knowledgeable, whether it was politics, nature, drama or science,” said Dusty Saunders, former television critic for the Rocky Mountain News, now a contributor to The Post.
“There was no hype with Bill. It was pure information” when he dealt with the press, Saunders said.
Thorn was remembered by some for his salty language and his self-deprecating humor.
His wife said Thorn left Channel 6 “when it stopped being fun to work there.”
Thorn loved to cook. One time he made pickles “but he made too many of them, so he sent our kids (all under 10 at the time) out to sell them door-to-door,” said Joyce Thorn. “I don’t remember that they sold a lot.”
William B. Thorn was born in Raleigh, N.C., on Feb. 18, 1930, and had a degree in communications.
His family wanted him to carry on the family tradition of optometry, but after nearly flunking a physics class he moved out of that arena. “The professor said he’d give him a D if he’d promise not to take the physics course again,” Joyce Thorn said.
Thorn helped put himself through college by playing drums in a rock band called the Socialaires.
He married Joyce Cohn on Dec. 17, 1961. They had met at a party a few years earlier and neither liked the other. “He thought I was arrogant and I thought he was snotty,” said Joyce Thorn. For two years she avoided going to the Fontius shoe store downtown, where he worked, because she didn’t want to run into him.
But someone re-introduced them to each other later and they began dating.
After retiring, Thorn pursued his interest in the environment, doing research for Earthwatch. “He cared about the environment; he was recycling before everyone else did,” Joyce Thorn said.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughter; Courtney Thorn of Denver, two sons, Todd Thorn of Denver and Bret Thorn of New York City; and three grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
