Thurston and his family had been in the process of moving back to Davis, California, where he was to rejoin the mathematics faculty at UC Davis while his wife completed her veterinary medical degree. Thurston died before he could make the move to California. He had remained with his brother George in Rochester, New York, while his family went ahead of him to California to get settled, waiting for him to gain better physical strength for making the cross-country trip to California to join them. Thurston's health declined rapidly, and the family returned to Rochester to be with him during his final days.