When John Lewis Thirion was born on 30 May 1885, in Russia, Loramie Township, Shelby, Ohio, United States, his father, Hyacentha Harrison Thirion, was 34 and his mother, Adaline Treon, was 29. He married Myrtle Smith on 21 April 1906, in Mendota, LaSalle, Illinois, United States. He lived in Loramie Township, Shelby, Ohio, United States in 1900 and Rural, Waupaca, Wisconsin, United States in 1935. He died on 1 December 1957, in Mendota, LaSalle, Illinois, United States, at the age of 72, and was buried in Mendota, LaSalle, Illinois, United States.