A memorial service for Daniel Francis Thorne, formerly of Westhampton Beach, will be held on Saturday, October 4, at Westhampton Cemetery. Mr. Thorne died at the El Dorado Care Center in Placerville, California, on February 25. He was 84.
Mr. Thorne was born on January 14, 1924, in Columbia, South Carolina, to Walter and Coretta Thorne. He moved to New Jersey with his family when he was a toddler and he graduated from Barringer High School in Newark in 1942.
After World War II, he began his college education at Manhattan College in New York City.
He joined the Army Air Force on December 10, 1942, at the age of 19. His military career included specialized training as an aircraft armorer and remote control turret mechanical gunner, more commonly called central fire control gunner. He completed Army Air Force cadet training, and had more than 96 hours of instruction and solo time in the air.
He attained the rank of staff sergeant and was stationed on the island of Tinian with the 40th Bomber Group. He flew aboard the B29 named the Eddie Allen, which was scrapped after being damaged on a mission over Japan. He then flew aboard the B29 named Dark Eyes. As central fire control gunner, he protected the top of the plane. He took care of the firing system of the 50-caliber gun and fired six guns from the top position in the aircraft.
Mr. Thorne flew 18 missions over enemy territory and was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Good Conduct Medal, World War II Victory Medal, American Service Medal, Asiatic Pacific Service Medal, and one bronze star. He was honorably discharged on December 4, 1945.
On September 20, 1947, he married Mildred Hallock in Westhampton Beach. He worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory and later as a machinist at Republic Aviation in Farmingdale. In 1964, Mr. Thorne moved to California with his family and worked at Hycon Manufacturing Company in Monrovia.
He later became the chief engineering inspector at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where he worked on numerous high-tech projects related to scientific, mathematical projects and space programs. He resided in La Verne, California, for 32 years and retired in 1984. He moved to Placerville, California, in 1995 with his wife.
According to loved ones, Mr. Thorne was a devout Catholic and a devoted family man. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and uncle, and was a loyal friend, a good provider and was generous with everything he had. He was intelligent and had an outstanding memory, and will be remembered for his love, wisdom and sense of humor.
He is survived by two daughters, Barbara Prayter and Terri Wilkinson and her husband Barry; a daughter-in-law, Virginia Thorne; eight grandchildren, Christopher Thorne, Michael, Mark, Julie and Matthew Prayter, Amy Schultze and her husband Michael, and Rebecca and Mary Copeman; four great-grandchildren, Thaden and Tieren Salzstrand and Collin and Alyssa Schultze; and many nieces, nephews and other relatives in both California and New York.
He was predeceased by his wife, Mildred “Middie” Lee Thorne in 1999; two sons, Thomas Edward Thorne in 1956 and Daniel Francis Thorne Jr. in 2002; and a brother, Walter Thorne.
The October 4 memorial service at the Westhampton Cemetery will be held at 3:30 p.m., followed by a gathering at Quogue VFW Post 5350 at 4 p.m.
on Sep 30, 2008