RIP Buck Thornton

[T2x]

Buck Thornton passed away... He had been in Hospice care for the past few weeks. A great racer, gentleman and friend to many of us.

God speed...

[Mark75H]

God speed Buck, peace to his family and friends

[JWTjr.]

The Buckeroo...a great racer, right up there in the top tunnel boat pilots of all time. God Speed Buck...condolences and best wishes to Alden and the entire Thornton family.

[specboatops]

Thoughts and Prayers to Family and friends.

[GENE LANHAM]

Rest In Peace, Buck--

-----Met Buck years ago----and remember this story---

1977--I went in partners with Jerry Langer, an OMC dealer and also a boat racer, and we bought new Cessna 206, all King equipment--even had RNAV!

I got a call from Schwebbe at Lake X---could I pick up some guys at OPF and bring them to the Lake?? No Problem.

We took off at about 6:00 AM, but a little north of Lake Okeechobee, I knew I was in trouble. Fog. The whole middle of the state was covered in early morning fog. Using the RNAV, I navigated to Lake X, nothing but a solid sheet of white. I called Orlando approach , and he told me McCoy was 400 and 3. I requested the ILS to 36, and he vectored me to the initial approach fix. I hand flew a perfect approach, broke out at about 300, and landed.

I had less than 300 hours in my logbook, and only about 50 hours in the new plane!! My instrument Rating still had wet ink--I passed the check ride only a couple weeks earlier.

My passengers were: Buck Thornton; Bill Seebold; Tim Seebold; Gary Garbrecht---

We will miss you Buck--

[stokernick]

God Speed, Buck

[seeroy]

George Alden Buck Thornton III


1940 - 2014 | Obituary | Condolences






THORNTON George Alden Buck Thornton, III, 73, of Duck, North Carolina died January 3, 2014. He was born July 2, 1940 in Lebanon, Tennessee and grew up in Norfolk and Suffolk, Virginia. He is survived by his wife, Bronwyn Kenneweg Thornton, two sons: George Alden Thornton, IV and wife Alison Perkins Thornton of Ponte Vedra, Florida and Haywood Alston Thornton and wife Kemper Williams Thornton, daughter, Windsor Elizabeth Thornton, sister, Mary Eleanor Thornton Martin and husband Cecil Edward Martin, Jr. , brother, John Timothy Thornton and wife Rickey Howard Thornton and two grandchildren, Robert Caldwell Thornton and Charlotte Graham Thornton, all of Richmond, Virginia. He was pre-deceased by his parents George Alden Thornton, Jr. and Eleanor Dillard Thornton. Buck was a 1958 graduate of Suffolk High School and a 1960 graduate of Louisburg College, and later attended The University of Richmond. While working on his degree, he spent summers teaching water skiing at Camp Seagull near New Bern, North Carolina. Buck enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1961 and served in the Marine Corps Reserves until 1967. He began his career in the furniture industry at an early age, growing up working in his father's store, Thornton's Furniture. His first job was stocking the cold drink machine each day after school. He worked his way up from stock boy to store manager. In 1970, Thornton's Furniture merged with Heilig-Meyers Furniture. Buck went on to become a Vice President of Merchandising for Heilig-Meyers in Richmond, Virginia. In 1979 he moved to Atlanta, Georgia as the Senior Vice President of Merchandising and Advertising for Rhodes Furniture. Buck served on the Executive Boards of Heilig- Meyers, Kincaid Furniture, Simmons Bedding, Charles and Colvard, The Whalehead Preservation Trust and The North Carolina Aquarium Society. In 1963, while living in Elizabeth City, Buck began racing outboard power boats. His passion for racing led him to be an internationally prominent boat racing driver reaching speeds of 185 miles per hour, capturing eighteen National Championships and two World Championships. He was admitted to the American Power Boat Association Hall of Champions in 1977. Buck's drive to excel in one of the world's most dangerous sports carried over into his professional career. In 1984 Buck began his career as a real estate developer on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with his brother when they began building Ships Watch in Duck, North Carolina. Buck went on to develop in Corolla, building the TimBuckII Shopping Village and the community of Buck Island. His influence on the Outer Banks was vast; from hosting seven Beach Music Festivals raising money for the Nature Conservancy, to chairing three Knight's Balls raising money for the renovation of the Whale Head Club as well as spearheading the effort for its restoration by serving for fifteen years as the President of the Whalehead Preservation Trust. In 2005, the state of North Carolina recognized Buck's efforts by awarding him the prestigious North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the state's highest civilian honor, and in 2007 Buck received the Outer Banks Citizen of the year award. Known for his warm smile, twinkling blue eyes, quick wit and calm and easygoing demeanor, Buck was often referred to as the Southern Gentleman from North Carolina. He was a man whose actions spoke for him and his reputation for excellence, fairness, honesty and hard work were renowned. Buck was a gregarious people-lover who looked at life's challenges as opportunities to excel rather than as obstacles. His positive attitude towards life can be summed up by the words of his legendary voice mail greeting; It's another spectacular day on the Northern Outer Banks. Leave us a message, make it a happy one, live each day to its fullest, it will ALWAYS BE A GREAT DAY. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Whalehead Preservation Trust for the Buck Thornton Memorial Fund; www.Whaleheadclub.org. A service will be held at St. Andrews by the Sea, Nags Head, North Carolina on Wednesday, January 8, 2014 at 2:30pm. A celebration of Buck's life will immediately follow in The Oceanview Hall at Jeanette's Pier. Twiford Funeral Home of Manteo, North Carolina is handling the arrangements. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.twifordfh.com. Please Sign the Guestbook @ Jacksonville.com<center style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></center>
Published in the Florida Times-Union on Jan. 5, 2014



- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tim....jctEmF4C.dpuf

[shadowcat]

....my thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time -RIP Buck

[willabee]

Didn't like how last year ended with Molly passing and don't like how this one is starting.

As stated in his obituary, many people referred to Buck as.... a southern gentleman .... I sure did. It seemed to me that he went about things a little differently than most racers did. Always seemed to be calm, cool about any given situation and always asked and said thank you, never assumed or demanded .... that was my experience with him.

When word got out that I was leaving Merc, I'll never forget his call to the office. I did receive a number of "I enjoyed working with you" calls and a number of "can you do this for me before you leave" type calls also. Buck called just to wish me well and to say "thank you", I really appreciated that. Later, when I'd bump into him at a race, he always stopped what he was doing and took a minute to shake hands and say hello.

Good man .... will be missed!

[GRH]

He was fun to watch drive.... RIP

[madtunnel]

Used to watch him race growing up at the Jacksonville out board club and up in Georgia. He was always on the top of his game. our thaughts and prayers go out to his family.

The Atwells

[MN4V]

RIP Buck Thornton
Mark N

[dennispointmenace]

295-buck thornton/dave casey, they were racing son ofa guns, 90% driver,10% boat, Buck circa 1969!!! rip. E of E&T.

[Watermark]

Bucky - a true gentleman, champion and friend.


L-R: Reggie Fountain, Buck Thornton, Mark Rotharmel - 1976 Mod 100 World Championship - Photo by Bill Jennings

[FUJIMO]

...flashback friday. it's january & buck came to mind...