- Date Of Birth: September 21, 1928
- Date Of Death: August 2, 2011
- State: Georgia
There was a grand celebration in heaven on Aug. 2, 2011, as Doyal Sanford Thornton Sr., age 82, entered into the realm of Glory.
There to greet him was his father, James J. Thornton; mother, Mae Reed Thornton; brother, J.B. Thornton; and a little brother; along with a host of other family and friends.
He was delayed a short time by a brief illness here on this earth.
He will be missed greatly by his wife of 59 years, Priscilla Park Thornton (Pat) and the rest of his family, daughters and sons-in-law, Cindy and Randall Teems of Cleveland, Rhonda and Chip King of McDonough; son, Doyal Thornton Jr. of Cleveland; sister, Laura Ann Wood of Oakwood; brother and sister-in-law, Bill and Ann Thornton of Lilburn; sister-in-law, Elsie Thornton of Pensacola, Fla.
Doyal enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force Jan. 7, 1946, at age 17, with Basic Training at Keesler Field in Biloxi, Miss.; Weather Observer School at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Ill. He served in the 604th Tactical Control Squadron in Freising, Germany from August 1946 to September 1948.
He left for Japan in August 1950, assigned to 3rd Air Police Squadron in Iwakuni, Japan. From there it was on to Kunsan, Korea as first sergeant of the 3rd Air Police Squadron. He was sent back to the United States in April 1952 and was assigned to James Connally Air Force Base in Waco, Texas.
The best description of our husband, daddy, granddaddy, great-granddaddy, brother, uncle, cousin and friend is found in Proverbs 20:7. He was truly “just a man walking in his integrity, and his children are blessed after him.”
