He competed for the United States in the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany in the high jump where he won the bronze medal.
During World War II Thurber was a pilot, serving in the Pacific Theater of Operations. After the war he stayed on in the Philippines as one of the founders of what would become Philippine Airlines. He eventually settled in San Diego and continued to fly DC-3 part-time for a non-sked operation until his 60th birthday forced his retirement from that.
