Albert H. Thornton, Jr.

Albert H. Thornton, Jr., age 82, a former long time Rhode Island resident, passed from this life at home in Dartmouth, MA surrounded by the family he loved so much on April 1, 2025 from Leukemia. He was predeceased by his parents Albert H. Sr. and Mildred A. (Neary) Thornton and sister Pamela E. (Thornton) Hodgkins. Married to his adoring wife Cheryl M. (Dufresne) for 61 years, a relationship he always described as one “where he couldn’t have done any better, and she couldn’t have done any worse” leaves three children – Albert H. III (fiancé Sandra), Brian G. (M. Elizebeth), Colleen E. (Thornton) Noonan, seven grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren.

After working as a Brown & Sharpe machinist for ten years, his wife with two babies went to work full time and he part time and he enrolled full time at Bryant College (now University), earning the Jeremiah Clark Barber Award presented to the graduating senior who has shown the most consistent academic improvement resulting in Dean’s List recognition. After graduation, he worked for 30 years as an Internal Revenue Agent in the Providence District in addition to being the President of the National Treasury Employees Union. While at the IRS he attended Southern New England School of Law (now UMass Law), beginning at age 54, passing the MA Bar on his first attempt. After completing his 30-year career at the IRS he ran a successful Legal and Tax Practice for 25 years.

As members of Oahu based Hilton Hawaii Village, they traveled to all the Hawaiian Islands many times as well as traded off to travel to countries all over the world. On a dare while on a trip to Australia and New Zealand, he bungee jumped from the Nevis, the highest bungee jumping site in New Zealand. For an added thrill, he and his wife tandem jumped from an airplane at 10,000 feet. At age 49 he earned a 1st degree Black Belt in Kenpo martial art after many years of study and at age 53 while a member of the Rhode Island Road Runners Club completed the Rhode Island Marathon in 1993. With his family, and no previous experience, he built a 16 x 16 x 16 horse barn for his daughter’s horse. Always a Red Sox and Patriots fan, he was also a former member of the Valley, Pawtucket, Crestwood, and New Bedford Country Clubs, recording a hole-in-one at Valley by sheer luck. He also was a Little League Manager in Johnston and Scituate, winning two town championships.

His visitation will be Saturday, April 26, 2025 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the Waring-Sullivan Home at Dartmouth, 230 Russells Mills Rd., Dartmouth followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 789 Dartmouth St., Dartmouth, MA 02748. A repast will follow at 12 noon in the Parish Hall. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Dana-Farber Leukemia Cancer Research, 450 Brookline Ave., SW 120, Boston, MA 02215 www.dana-farber.org. For online tribute: www.waring-sullivan.com.