Delphine Thornton

Obituary For Delphine Thornton

Mrs. Delphine Osburn ThorntonBeautiful, incandescent, and irrepressible in spirit, Mrs. Delphine Osburn Thornton who served greater Spartanburg County as a Clemson Extension Agent, community volunteer and activist, loving mother and grandmother and devoted pastoral spouse, died Friday, October 28, 2011, at her Roebuck home. She was 81 years old.Born and raised in rural Perry County Alabama during the height of the Great Depression, Mrs. Thornton's parents, Roland L. Osburn and Cornelia Scott Osburn provided a tough but loving upbringing on the family farm-one punctuated by Christian principles, frugality, charity, political activism and of course education.As a teenager, she attended the prestigious Lincoln (Normal) School which counts among its noted alumni, her first cousin Coretta Scott King, Jean Childs (wife of former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young) and Odith Patton, (mother of Bishop T.D. Jakes). Mrs. Thornton went on to attend Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, AL. She graduated with a degree in Home Economics from Tennessee State University. Following her graduation from college, Mrs. Thornton married the Rev. J. Daniel Thornton, former pastor of Cummings Street Baptist and Community Baptist Churches. The two, as a tandem, began their life's work at the Bethlehem Community Center. Their positive influences in the lives of those they touched endure to this day.During the course of her beautiful life, Mrs. Thornton is most known for her positive influence among girls and women. From teaching sewing classes at the Bethlehem Center, to coordinating the County Extension Homemaker's Clubs and 4-H Clubs, to her work with the Piedmont Area Council of the Girl Scouts, Mrs. Thornton's invested her time, attention and talents heavily into her community. She is also well known for having been instrumental in the desegregation of the Park Hills Elementary school during the early 1960's. She was a superb role model in every regard and a fine example of greater womanhood.Mrs. Thornton volunteered extensively in the community, and participated in a plethora of community groups and organizations, including Church Women United, the Spartanburg Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters, the Spartanburg Library and a host of other activities. She was also a faithful member of the Messiah Missionary Baptist Church. Her most cherished role was that of loving grandmother to her two grandsons.Mrs. Thornton leaves behind two daughters, Thalisa Wynona Thornton of Duncan, SC and Monica Delphine Thornton-Jennings of Boiling Springs; two grandsons, Daniel Day Jennings and Lucas St. James Thornton Jennings of Boiling Springs; one brother, Roland L. Osburn, Jr. of Cleveland, OH; and five dear sisters, Mrs. Golaree Osburn Coles of Lorain OH, Mrs Christine Osburn Jackson of Charleston, SC, Mrs. Johnnie Osburn Dent of Long Island, NY, Mrs. Cora Osburn of Tuscaloosa AL, and Mrs. Blanchie Osburn Stewart of Tuscaloosa, AL; and numerous nieces, nephews and lifelong friends.Funeral services will be held on Thursday, November, 3, 2011, at 1:30 pm at the Cummings Street Baptist Church. Services will be followed by a Circle of Friends Gathering/Repast (location to be announced).J. W. Woodward Funeral Home