Avis de décès de Elaine Thornton

Elaine Cheshire Thompson Thornton, Greenville, died Saturday morning, Feb. 4, at home after a short illness.Born in Bainbridge, Ga., to Ruth and Z.A. Cheshire, Elaine grew up in Colquitt, Ga., where she graduated from Miller County High School. She had a large number of cousins and girlfriends in Colquitt who would get together several times a year for 75 years. The "Colquitt Girls" remained friends for life. Elaine attended Valdosta State College for Women, now Valdosta State, where she met her future husband, Robert Thompson, who attended Emory at Valdosta, and then Emory College and Emory Law School in Atlanta. They were married in 1950 and lived in Atlanta where her husband practiced labor law until they moved to Greenville in 1964. Elaine had three sons, Robert Thomas Thompson Jr., an attorney in Atlanta, Ga., Randall Cheshire Thompson M.D., a cardiologist in Kansas City, and David Lane Thompson, an attorney in Washington, D.C. She was often humorously accused by her husband of raising three only children, since each one was so special to her. In Atlanta, Elaine was deeply involved in the founding of Northside Methodist Church, where she sang in the choir as an alto soprano.After her husband died in 2000, Elaine met and married Guerry Thornton in 2003, a retired attorney and state court judge in Georgia, who is originally from Atlanta. Elaine and Guerry continued in many social and community activities in Greenville and enjoyed cruises around the world.For over 40 years, Elaine engaged in numerous church and community activities in Greenville. She was a devoted member of Buncombe Street United Methodist Church, where she was the head wedding planner for years. She was deeply involved in music activities in Greenville with the symphony and other groups, and in Brevard, N.C., with the Brevard Music Center. For many years she spent much of the summer in Brevard, attending concerts, sponsoring students from around the world, creating scholarships for students, and entertaining friends, faculty, and students from the school.Elaine was also very devoted to Emory University in Atlanta and Furman University in Greenville. She went from being selected Miss Emory in 1950 to having two husbands, three sons, and one grandson graduate from Emory. She was Mother Minerva at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house at Emory where all three sons were members, and she established a professorship at Emory Law School in honor of her late husband, the Robert Thompson Professorship in Law and Business. For Furman, Elaine hosted numerous functions related to education, art, music and development. She and her husband established the Thompson Gallery for Art at Furman.Elaine was also proud of her Republican politics, often attending political events and supporting candidates she believed in at the local, state, and national levels. She was a delegate to the Republican National convention in 1984.Elaine was a loving and devoted grandmother. She absolutely worshiped her grandchildren, who included Robert Thompson III, Lacy Grace Thompson, Broughton Thompson and Grady Thompson of Atlanta, Ga., Adam Thompson and Elaine Cheshire Thompson of Leawood, Kansas, and Andy Thompson and Phillip Thompson of McLean, Va.She is also survived by her beloved daughter-in-law, Martha Thompson of Leawood, Kansas, stepdaughters, Nancy T. Bailey of Hilton Head Island and Lea T. Walker of Greenville and stepson, Guerry R. Thornton Jr. of Atlanta, Ga.Elaine was one of those rare people who never had an enemy in the world. She was gracious, kind, sincere, giving and loving. She was always the best friend anyone ever had and you could always count on her to be there, be positive, upbeat, and see the good in any situation. She was the kind of person whose smile lit up any room she entered. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Brevard Music Center, Brevard, NC 28712.Services for Elaine Thompson Thornton will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006, at 11 a.m. at Buncombe Street United Methodist Church Memorial Chapel. The family will receive guests in the church parlor after the service. The family is at the home.Condolences may be made to the family by visiting www.thomasmcafee.com.-Thomas McAfee Funeral Home-Downtown.