Plankowner
Posts: 5024
Location: Gulfport, MS | Subject: Wednesday Obit
THORNTON, George Edgar, 98, died April 6, 2023. George was born the son of Charles Macon Thornton and Eva Pierce Thornton in Three Notch Alabama on September 19, 1924. He graduated from Bullock County High School in 1942 and entered the University of North Carolina the following fall. Six months later, he was in the US Navy and at boot camp in Bainbridge, Maryland. At the completion of boot camp, he was selected for submarine service and transferred to submarine school in New London, Connecticut. Upon completion of submarine school, he was assigned to the USS Sealion (SS-315), a newly commissioned submarine. After shakedown cruises and further training, the Sealion was assigned to the Pacific area where it operated in the South China and East China Sea for the remainder of World War II. He qualified in submarines in Sealion in 1944 and was QM2(SS) when released by the Navy in January 1946. After discharge from the Navy, Ed returned to the University of North Carolina and graduated with a B.S. Degree in Commerce and a major in Insurance. He joined the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company in Knoxville where he travelled East Tennessee as agency representative. In 1953, he was transferred to Nashville as agency supervisor. In 1959, he joined McKee, Oliver and Geny Agency, becoming a partner in 1960. The agency later became McKee, Geny and Thornton and merged with Alexander & Alexander, Inc. In 1978, Ed and Jim Harwell started Thornton and Harwell Agency and he was president of the agency until the agency merged with BB&T Insurance Services in 2000. He was Senior Vice President until his retirement in 2004. While his primary interest was insurance and bonds, he was part owner of Smyrna Air Center for 25 years and President of International Barge and Equipment until it's sale in 2008. He was a member of First Presbyterian Church, Doric Lodge No. 732, Sigma Chi Fraternity, U.S. Subvets World War II, charter member and past president of West End Sertoma Club, member and past president of Hillwood Country Club and former member of the Board of Directors of The Bank of Nashville. He is pre-deceased by his wife Joanne, and her daughter Kala MacLeod. Survivors include his daughter Deborah (David) Stegall and son Wade (Currey) from his first marriage to Joyce Vickery Thornton (Vicki), stepdaughters Terri (Blair) Schmidt-Fellner and Alicia (David) Davenport. Grandchildren are Hillary (Peter) Gamble, Hagen (Dan) Baker, George (Brittany) Stegall, Grace (Jake) Adams and Macon (Daniel) James, step-grandchildren Lauren MacLeod, Meredith MacLeod, Tee Schmidt-Fellner, Alex Schmidt-Fellner and Pierce Schmidt-Fellner. Great-grandchildren are Pierce, Adelaide and Welden Gamble, Jude, Eliam and Asher James, Goocher, Louisa and Edgar Stegall, Joanna and Ellison Adams, Kenzie, Sadie, Jake and Lennon Baker. Visitation will be held from 12:30- 2:00 PM, Saturday, April 15, at First Presbyterian Church on Franklin Pike. Services will begin at 2:00 PM followed by burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Posted online on April 11, 2023; Published in The Tennessean.
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Wednesday Obit
