Quincy Donald “Uncle Don” Thornton, 90, of Tifton died Sunday, November 20, 2011, at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon. Graveside funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 26, 2011, in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Rev. Charles Neeley, Rev. Jason Jones and Rev. N. C. Spradley will officiate with burial to follow. The family will receive friends on Friday, November 25, 2011, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. The family will be at the home of Wayne and Sharon Hill, 160 Atwater Road, in Tifton.
Mr. Thornton was born on December 31, 1920 in Truckton, Colorado and was the son of Charles Arthur Thornton and Elmus Mecina Rogers Thornton, both deceased. He was also preceded in death by his wife, Lenona “Lee” Conger Thornton, who he married on June 23, 1945; five brothers, Joseph Thornton, Oliver Thornton, Earl Thornton, James Thornton and Emmett Thornton; and one sister, Pearl Thornton. He was retired from masonry work.
After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, he felt it was his duty to serve his country during World War II. He enlisted in the United States Navy on December 26, 1941 and was assigned to the Pensacola Naval Base on September 13, 1942 as an Aviation Mechanic Mate First Class and was discharged on August 30, 1945. He was a member of the American Legion and a member of New River Baptist Church and, for many years, served as head of the deacons at the Freedonia Baptist Church in Thomasville.
Mr. Thornton is survived by one sister-in-law and her husband, Bobby and Bill Miller of Elijay; 22 nephews and nieces, which includes local nieces, Sharon Hill, Charlotte McMillan, Joyce Weeks and Donna Taylor; and many great nieces and nephews; great-great nieces and nephews; and great-great-great nieces and nephews.