Family charity supporter and much loved grandfather Doug Thornton

Douglas John Thornton, who was a husband to his late wife, Pat, who died in 2001, dad to Peter, grand dad to Graham, Ian and John and a great grandfather to Ben and Luke, passed away at Amberwood House in Ferndown on Thursday, October 22.

He was born in Garsington, near Oxford, where he grew up as an only child, attending the local primary school before the family moved to Cowley in Oxford, where he went to Southfield Grammar School, before leaving education aged 16.

He then went to work for Pressed Steel, a British car body manufacturing business, which later came under the BMW Group, where he spent 40 years working as a jig and tool inspector.

Mr Thornton married his wife, Margaret Patricia, who was known to friends, family and loved ones as Pat, in Oxford in a joint ceremony with her sister, Eileen and her husband and the couple welcomed their son, Peter, in 1948.

Up until the 1950s, he played for the Oxford Nondescripts Cricket Club and helped to manage Kidlington Football Club. Mr Thornton enjoyed gardening, watching TV and reading sport and military history books. Mr Thornton and his wife also enjoying walks with their golden Labrador, Prince, and holidays to Paignton in Devon, Spain, Italy and Austria.

He had a huge amount of pride for his grandchildren and was devastated by the death of grandson, Lieutenant John Thornton, a Royal Marine who died on active service in Afghanistan aged 22. A charity, the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation, was set up in his memory to support young people from a wide range of youth organisations to provide them with scholarships and bursaries to support their personal development and pursuit of their ambitions.

In later life, Mr Thornton moved to Dorset to be closer to his family and had moved to Amberwood House around 18 months ago.

His funeral was held at Poole Crematorium on Friday, November 6, with donations going to the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation.