Frank Richard Thornton was born in Mitchell County, GA, on December 12, 1929. He died Wednesday, October 25, 2006, at Rockwall Nursing Center, Rockwall, TX.
Thornton was a longtime resident of DeFuniak Springs and Stanley House Assisted Living Facility, leaving this area in April due to illness. He spent four years in the Navy from 1952 through 1956, performing submarine duty in the Pacific. He attended Stetson University in Deland, FL, and received a degree in music from Redlands University in Redlands, CA. He went on to earn a master’s degree at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, where he lived for some years. He was an accomplished organist and helped build and install the upgrade for the organ in the St. Agatha’s Episcopal Church where he was a member.
Thornton worked as a computer programmer for companies like RCA and Chase Bank, among others, spending his life in California, Tucson, AZ, Seattle, WA, Cherry Hill, NJ, Detroit, MI, Largo, FL, Richmond, VA., and Miami, FL.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Albert Franklin Thornton and Hensylee Thornton, and one sister, Jackie T. Malone, He is survived by two sisters, Ann Black, of DeFuniak Springs, and Nancy Patricia Moore, and husband Anthony J. Moore, of Rockwall, TX. Other survivors include nephews, Mark H. Malone, Patrick R. Malone, Jarrett Charles (Chuck) Black II, Patrick A. Menken, and their families; nieces, Teresa Black, Linda Foster, Melody Lloyd, and their families. He was blessed with five grand-nieces, four grand-nephews, eight great-grand nieces and two great-grand nephews.
The family express sincere thanks for the continued prayers and support of Richard’s friends and family through this difficult time. He will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved him.
Arrangements for a memorial service will be announced later.
[Source: The DeFuniak Springs Herald, November 2, 2006, Page 7B]
[Burial: Oakview Cemetery, Camilla, Georgia]