John William Thornton, age 91 years, of Perkasie, PA, died peacefully on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at St. Luke’s Hospital, Upper Bucks Campus, Quakertown, PA.

He was born in his home in Hackensack, NJ. The only son of Helen (Knapp) and John Sr., John graduated from Hackensack High School, Class of 1948.

Following graduation, he served briefly with the US Army stateside at Fort Sill in artillery, never deployed. He married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Melin and they settled in Blacksburg, VA, where they both went to college at Virginia Tech together. A source of great pride was their connection to VT.

John worked for the Department of Agriculture, then Squibb, finally leaving Corporate America to pursue his family farm goals in NC.

John is predeceased by his father, mother, and the love of his life.

Surviving are his three children, Stephen Thornton and his wife, Kimberly, Lynn Szczeck and her husband, Robert, and Susan Eaton and her husband, Sean; eleven grandchildren, Jason, Jessica, Joshua, Gregory, Kenneth, Allison, Victoria, Kevin, Arielle, Briana, and Sinead; sixteen great grandchildren, Kiana, Hailey, Marcus, Morgan, Cody, Carter, Brayden, Sophia, Stella, Weston, Myles, Peyton, Riley, Kaylee, Jane, and Jolene; his cousin, LaVerne Thornton; his brother-in-law, Jeff Melin and his wife, Sandy; several extended family members; and many dear friends.

A private burial will occur at Hickory Grove Methodist Church in Ruffin, NC.

A gathering of family and friends will take place on Saturday, May 1, 2021 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

Life celebration services will follow the gathering beginning at 3:00 p.m. at the funeral home and to which all are welcome.

It is important to remember that given the current state of the pandemic, masks must be worn at all times on funeral home grounds, and social distancing must be maintained. Please follow the instructions of the Wright & Ford Care Team Family Ambassadors upon arrival.

You are encouraged to visit John’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of his life.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in John’s name to the Arbor Day Foundation would be appreciated.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”