With both enormous sorrow and deep gratitude for a life cultivated and shaped by devotion, care, integrity, and faithfulness to those she loved, we remember our mother, sister, and “Nana,” Patricia Thornton, who passed away peacefully in Tega Cay, South Carolina, on August 12th 2024 after a long illness.
Born in Zanesville, Ohio, on August 1st, 1939, Patricia was a deeply private, dignified, and introspective person whose sense of duty and right thinking guided her throughout her life. A 1957 graduate of Zanesville High School and an excellent student, Pat was a lover of beauty, books, order, and correctness; a “take charge” first child of the three who grew up in two Ohio towns where she was moved by and schooled in the beauty of compassion by neighbors who looked out and cared for one another, Pat had a strong desire to give back to her community and make a positive impact in the world. These guiding principles nurtured in her childhood inspired her to pursue a career in nursing.
After graduating from the Bethesda Hospital School of Nursing in 1960, Pat married her high school sweetheart and the love of her life, Roy Thornton, in 1961. Their love story reads like something from a Hallmark movie: the football star and the lovely co-ed meet and fall and love. Dates, sporting events, and high school dances follow; most importantly, Roy was warmly embraced by Pat’s family, where he was welcomed and always felt at home.
Promoted to head nurse at Ohio State University Hospital at a very young age before temporarily leaving her profession to start a family, Pat brought the care and concision she practiced as a post-operative care nurse to domestic life: invariably excellent at everything she set out to do, Pat could sew like a professional and cook like one, too. She made life lovely for her family, establishing traditions, nurturing her children’s talents and interests, and supporting Roy in his work and career with devotion and tenacity.
Patricia returned to long term care nursing after twenty-three years dedicated to building a home and nurturing a rich life for Roy and daughters Deborah, Julie, and Kathy. Pat shared her love of beauty, learning, literature, and the arts with her daughters—reading to them every night, teaching them prayers, making weekly trips to the public library and returning home with stacks of books, teaching them to draw and paint, instilling her love of learning in her children by playing “school,” taking them to art museums, cultural events, plays, and the ballet frequently, and making weekly trips to nearby Niagara Falls after the family’s move to Buffalo, NY, in 1969.
After resuming her career as head of nursing at a long-term care facility in Milton, Pennsylvania, Pat retired with Roy to beautiful York, South Carolina, where she lovingly decorated and cared for another beautiful home. Roy and Pat reveled in their retired life, touring the Carolinas and Georgia, enjoying restaurants that could never compare to the excellent food mom prepared at home, and lavishing love on grandchildren Kayleigh, Sara, Shelby and Michael and great grandchildren Tricia, Jackson, Christopher, and Willow.
Patricia is pre-deceased by her beloved and cherished husband Roy, from whom she could not bear to be separated, and by their treasured daughter Deborah; she is survived by her sister Barbara VonBergen (Tom); brother, Terry Daniel (Shirley); daughters, Julie Olsen and Kathy Taylor; son in law Mark Taylor; grandchildren, Kayleigh (Joseph), Sara (Charles), Shelby, and Michael; and great-grandchildren, Patricia, Christopher, Jackson, and Willow.
Patricia bravely faced her struggle with her final illness upheld by the foundational love she shared with Roy, who cared for her tenderly and tirelessly after her cancer diagnosis in 2020. Both Patricia and Roy, bound in death as well as in life, have made a lasting impact on the family they loved: they have been upright, thoughtful, and dedicated citizens of the world they lived in. We hope to live out their hopes and dreams for us, the joy they shared, and to help cultivate the better world they envisioned for us with our own lives–their lasting gifts to us.
There will be a funeral ceremony on August 20, 2024 at 10 AM at Greene Funeral Home Northwest Chapel, 2133 Ebenezer Road, Rock Hill, SC, 29732, with Mr. Caleb Young officiating.
Condolences may be made at greenefuneralhome.net.