Cecile Thurston of Hayesville, NC passed away on Monday, January 13, 2025 while in hospice. She was born (1935) and raised in Montgomery, Alabama to Mary Margaret Stovall and Charles Albert Jehle, JR. Surrounded by the large and loving Jehle family she graduated from St. Mary Laredo High School and married Sam Durrance in 1954. Throughout her life, Cecile enjoyed learning and reading. She earned her college degree while raising eight successful children in Conley, Georgia.
In 1987, Cecile married Gary Thurston and they settled in Phoenix, Arizona, but soon the mountains called and Gary and Cecile moved to the Shooting Creek area of Hayesville in 1997. While living in Hayesville, she became active with Clay County Sherriff's Association, became a Master Gardener with Clay County, she enjoyed her work with the Census Bureau, the post office and H&R Block.
She is survived by her children; daughters, Maria (John) Rodgers, Joan (Mike) Jones, Margaret (John) Ostrowski, her sons, Sam (Michelle) Durrance, Matt Durrance, Joseph(Carol) Durrance, Steven (Michele) Durrance, step daughter Heather Miller, her loving sister Charlotte Jehle Mason Kitchell of McKinney, Texas, her 22 Grandchildren and 22 Great Grandchildren, along with numerous cousins, friends and extended family.
Cecile will be remembered for her loving, generous spirit, her love of cards! and her love for family. She is preceded in death by her husband Gary Thurston (2019), her son Charles Durrance (2015) and her grandson Ricky Aspinwall (2024).
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm Monday, January 20, 2025 in the Townson-Rose Funeral Home Chapel in Hayesville.
Visitation will be held at Townson Rose Funeral Home in Hayesville, Monday, January 20, 2025 from 12-2pm. Cecile will be laid to rest in St. Margaret's Cemetery in Montgomery, Alabama.
Townson-Rose Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
You may send tributes to the family at
www.townson-rose.com
Ben Herbert Ashe 
