Robert Sidney Thornton

Robert Sydney Thornton, passed away at home in Winter Park, Florida on Thursday, May 13, 2021 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. 79,

Robert is survived by his wife of 33 years, Diane Doster Thornton, children Darcie Thornton Griffin (Guy), Jennifer Thornton Gilroy (Pete), Caroline Plauche Gallagher (Jim), Amanda Plauche Jones (Robin), sister Sydney Jane Thornton, and eight grandchildren that called him Daddy Doc.

Robert was born in Elberton, Georgia on February

9, 1942 to Sydney White Thornton and Robert Sabra Thornton. Robert graduated from Elbert County High School in 1960. He attained Eagle Scout, the highest achievement of rank in the Boy Scouts of America. He went on to Emory at Oxford and Emory University where he graduated in 1964. He graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in 1968 and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed his medical Internship at Tripler Army Hospital in 1969 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He served in the Medical Core of the US Army as a Captain in Vietnam. Robert completed his Neurology Residency at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Robert began his career in Pensacola, Florida where he served as a Neurologist at West Florida Medical Clinic, and later moved to Winter Park, Florida where he joined Neurology Associates. In 1992, Robert became boardcertified in sleep medicine and along with his partner, Morris Byrd opened the first sleep lab in Central Florida at Florida Hospital.

Some of Robert‘s favorite things include family, friends, travel, golf, The University of Georgia Bulldogs and his dog Georgia Peach. He was known for his wonderful bedside manner and caring for his patients. Most people remember him in a bowtie and a seersucker suit - always a dapper dresser. His family liked to call him the “unofficial mayor of Winter Park,” as he never met a stranger. Robert absolutely loved the game of golf. Some of his favorite courses include Royal Dornoch Golf Club in Scotland, Secession Golf Club in Beaufort, SC, and Interlachen Country Club in Winter Park, Florida.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church in Winter Park, Fl, where he was a member, on Friday, May 21 at 3 PM. Interment to follow at Palm Cemetery in Winter Park. In lieu of flowers, his family requests that memorial donations for Robert Sidney Thornton be sent to Alzheimer’s and Dementia Resource Center 715 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, or Oxford College of Emory University 801 Emory St., Oxford, GA 30054, or All Saints Episcopal Church in Winter Park.