Wiliam Thornton Obituary

Colleen O'neill '74 said:

William Thornton Obituary
William Harold Thornton, Jr. ("Billy" or "BT"), passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 10, 2018, surrounded by members of his family and his best furry friend, "Maggie May". He was born May 24, 1952 in Buffalo, NY, oldest son of the late William H. Thornton, Sr. and Frances Palaszewski Thornton. Billy was predeceased by his wife of 39 years, Annette Gagnier Thornton. In 1974, Billy graduated with a BS in Computer Science from Pottsdam College where he met Annette. They married in August of 1974 and settled down in Manchester, CT after Billy secured at job at The Traveler's Insurance Company. In 1979 he began work at Vantage Computer Systems and in 1984 co-founded The Leverage Group. He successfully ran the technical branch of Leverage until it was sold in 1998. After working for several other companies for two more years, he and Annette moved to Tarpon Springs, FL in 2000, where he happily played golf every day. At the top of his game he had an 8 handicap and scored 3 documented holes-in- one. BT was quiet but his brain was always on the move. He loved science fiction, Star Trek, Star Wars, classic rock (especially the Beatles!) and Jeopardy. He could read and watch television simultaneously and not miss a thing. When he wasn't golfing in retirement, he was traveling or helping entrepreneurs by volunteering countless hours for Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). Billy gave generously to his college alma mater SUNY Potsdam and set up The Thornton Education Fund to help his extended family members afford college. Billy leaves his daughters Suzanne and Amy Thornton, both of New Orleans, LA and his granddaughter Samantha, 10, also of New Orleans, his brother David and wife Maureen of Java City, NY, sister Karen Ratcliffe of Fayetteville, GA and sister Kimmy Everett of Ormond Beach, FL. For the last two plus years, Billy resided with his sister Karen who gave him loving daily care. There are no calling hours and arrangements are being made privately by the family. In lieu of flowers, Billy would have loved a donation to be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation, P. O Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741 or online at MichaelJFox.org.