Naomi Thornton

Beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother Naomi Hampton Thornton passed away in her sleep on February 20, 2017, a few months after celebrating her 100th birthday. If ever anyone embodied the Greatest Generation, it was this strong, resilient and fiercely devoted lady.

Naomi – or “Mimi” as she was often called – was born on October 2, 1916, in the tiny East Texas town Naples. She grew up under the watchful eye of her older sisters Lois Martin, Oletta Dalby and Lovelle Cornelius and with her brothers Horace Hampton and Robert Hampton as playmates. In the 1920s, Mimi’s father bought a Model T Ford, a rarity in their town. But the family’s fortunes changed when Mimi’s mother died unexpectedly and her father lost his hardware store during the Great Depression. Despite these hardships, Mimi graduated valedictorian of her class at Naples High School in 1934.

Mimi earned a teaching certificate at East Texas State College. While teaching art and penmanship at a school in Wichita Falls, she met her husband O.K. “Ozzie” Thornton. They married in 1941 at her sister’s house in Dallas and went dancing on Greenville Avenue after the ceremony.

Mimi and Ozzie had two daughters, Merrily and Dona, and moved to Royal Lane in 1953. Mimi continued to teach in Dallas, and Ozzie was a CPA. Mimi’s daughter Dona was diagnosed with intellectual disability as a child and attended private schools. Her daughter Merrily graduated from Hillcrest High School, married her classmate John Sartain and they had Mimi’s grandchildren Keith, Sophie and Bo Sartain.

After Ozzie died in 1968, she lived with her daughter Dona on Royal Lane for another forty years, providing her with a loving and happy home. They attended Preston Hollow United Methodist Church, frequented the Preston Royal and Northpark shopping malls and participated in events at the ARC of Dallas. Her grandchildren spent many weekends at her home, where she spoiled them with chicken-fried steak on Saturday nights and waffles on Sunday mornings. In her 60s, Mimi took up ballroom dancing and performed in showcases around Dallas with her friend and teacher Tony Trent. Mimi spent her final years at Walnut Place, and the family wishes to thank her caregivers there.

Mimi’s life is celebrated in the documentary “Mimi and Dona” which aired on PBS in 2015. Sadly, Dona passed away that same year. In addition to her daughter Merrily and her grandchildren and their spouses Alice Sartain, Meg Sartain and Roberta Grossman, Mimi is survived by her nieces Betty Martin and Su Zanne Pace, her nephew Deryl Dalby and his wife Gerry Dalby, her nephew Robert Hampton, and ten great-grandchildren, William, Emily, Lizzie, Sophie, Isabel, Lucy, Anabelle, Ruby, Ben and John Bradley. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, February 26, at 2 pm at Sparkman-Hillcrest.