THORNTON RUTH FRANCIS FLOWERS Age 94, passed away on October 4, 2017, in Allison Park, Pennsylvania. She was born in Huntington, West Virginia, on December 31, 1922, the daughter of Philip and Selina Flowers and sister of Dwight, Russell, and Floyd Flowers. Funeral services will be conducted 12:00 p.m. Monday, October 9, 2017, at CHAPMAN'S MORTUARY, with the Rev. Dr. Mark Conner, officiating. Interment will be in Spring Hill Cemetery. A memorial service will take place in Pittsburgh at a later date. She attended Huntington High School and graduated in the January class of 1940. At Marshall University, she was a proud member of Theta Rho. She graduated magna cum laude with honors in Latin in 1943. After declining nine proposals of marriage, she accepted one from Arthur Lee Thornton, an officer in the United States Army Air Corps. They were posted all over the United States, living in Massachusetts, California, and Kansas. During assignment in Baghdad, Ruth enjoyed a number of adventures, including her near arrest as a spy and her thriving correspondence with the Jesuits teaching at the American University-all in Latin, to the annoyance of the Iraqi censors. She earned her master's degree in English from Marshall in 1951, and taught English and Latin at several local schools, including Milton, Cammack, Vinson, Huntington High School, Beverly Hills, and Huntington East High School, from which she retired in 1987. She was elected to Delta Kappa Gamma, a teachers' honor society, in 1961 and later served as president of Alpha Chapter. She moved to the Pittsburgh area in 2010, where her wit and charm won her a series of new friends and admirers. She is survived by her son, Michael Timothy Thornton of Atlanta, Georgia; and daughters, Patricia and Helen Thornton of Allison Park; as well as grandson, Eamon Thornton and wife, Jessica; and great-grandchildren, Joseph Luke and Adelyn Ruth of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her family wishes to thank Drs. Richard Bruehlman and Aaron Smuckler of Renaissance Family Practice, the nurses and staff of UPMC St. Margaret's 5B and Hope Hospice. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Ruth Flowers Thornton Scholarship Fund at Marshall University. Friends may visit with the family from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www. chapmans-mortuary.com. As one of her former students, Denise McMillan-Leftow, observed, "She is even now the steady, fair wind in so many sails, scattered hither and yon." Requiescat in pace, Amantissimus. Send condolences post-gazette.com/gb
