Robert Rundle Thornton ’51

Bob died Oct. 4, 2022, in Encinitas, Calif., after a long and successful career as a California lawyer. 

He joined us in 1947 as an NROTC student after graduating from Granby High School in Norfolk, Va. He majored in chemical engineering and was a member of Tower Club. After three years with the Navy in both the Atlantic and Pacific (including as an electronics officer on the flagship for the first tests of the hydrogen bomb at Enewetak Atoll in 1954), he attended Harvard Law School. 

Bob worked briefly as a lawyer in San Francisco before joining a large general practice firm in Los Angeles. He specialized in intellectual property law, but he also engaged in litigation for the firm’s clients. He moved to San Diego County, where he looked out at the Palomar Mountains as he raised avocados on his property. Known for his patriotism, Bob was buried in Miramar National Cemetery after services on the USS Midway. He is survived by his wife, Nancy.