Dr. John Lemuel Thornton III

| Send Sympathy Card THORNTON, Dr. John Lemuel III, 89, died November 2, 2016. The son of Dr. John Lemuel Thornton and Pearl Kinder Champe Thornton, he was born February 2, 1927 in Warrenton, Virginia. He was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Marjorie Mae Lucas Thornton. Dr. Thornton is survived by his children, son, John "Jack" Thornton (Shawn); and daughters, Margaret "Peggy" Lammers (Tony) and Anne Fergusson (John). Surviving grandchildren are Jay, Kathleen (Chris), Anne Jordan, John, Presley, Meg, Luke and Liza. He attended Warrenton Public Schools, Hampden-Sydney College, Duke University and The Medical College of Virginia M.D., 1949. He joined the Naval Reserve on his 17th birthday and remained a member for the rest of his life. He served on active duty at naval hospitals at Camp Lejeune and Philadelphia and with the Second Marine Division. He was a member of the 1st 105mm Howitzer Battalion, USMCR of Richmond. Dr. Thornton was a board certified specialist in Pathology and Nuclear Medicine and practiced in Richmond for over 40 years, primarily at Johnston-Willis Hospital. He helped to found Physicians Clinical Laboratories, which merged into what is now LabCorp and Richmond Metropolitan Blood Service, which became Virginia Blood Services. He was awarded Richmond Academy of Medicine's first Distinguished Service Award in 1998. Dr. Thornton served as president of Virginia Society for Pathology, American Blood Commission, First Unitarian Church, Richmond Metropolitan Blood Service, Richmond Area Chapter MOAA, Johnston-Willis Hospital, and CJW Medical Center. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Hospital Corporation of America and maintained active membership in Richmond Academy of Medicine, Medical Society of Virginia, American...

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