James Francis Thornton

Surviving family includes his wife of 50 years, Frankie Thornton; sisters Susan (Jerry Foreman) and Mary (Posa) Shultz, and brother Peter Thornton; two daughters, Dr. Sherri (Dr. Matthew Fraker) Thornton of Bloomington and Jami Thornton of Chicago; three grandchildren, Dixon and Hayden Fraker, Bloomington; Parker Thornton, Chicago; nephews Mike Foreman (California), Jim Foreman (Virginia), Jonathan Thornton (Illinois); and niece Cathy Foreman (California).

He was preceded in death by his mother and father.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Navy SEAL Foundation; 1619 D Street; Virginia Beach , VA 23459. The family will be gathering to celebrate his life privately.

Jim was born in Lima, Peru on Oct. 23, 1942, the son of Frank B. and S. Eleanor (McComiskey) Thornton. He was raised in Myrtle, Ontario and graduated from Whitby High School in 1960. He attended the University of New Brunswick from which he graduated as an electrical engineer in 1967.

On October 17th, 1964, he and Frankie married in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He was hired by Firestone out of college as an engineer in Hopewell, Va. He worked for Firestone, America OTR, and then Bridgestone eventually moving to Bloomington in 1983 where he finished out his working career as director of manufacturing for Bridgestone.

Jim's greatest trait, of many great traits, was his unconditional generosity, whether it was for his wife, his children, his grandchildren, his friends, or to charity. His positive energy and unbridled enthusiasm for life and for treating everyone around him with a love and respect that was transcendent could never be measured except to note that if Jim was there then "there" became a much better place. On top of being the consummate gentlemen, he was an athlete of several sports (wrestling, hockey, swimming, diving, golf), a wicked pool player, a brilliant card player, and harbored a complete command (which he loved to share) of the finest scotches in the world.

Everyone has a light that burns from within. Jim's was blinding and warmed everyone that came anywhere near it. Though that light has left us, it had strength enough to continue to warm us in its absence through memories of this extraordinary person. We will never stop celebrating all that Jim was, is, and always will be.