The Rev. Alice Leonor Thornton M. Div., departed this life Dec. 2, 2007, at Ruby Memorial Hospital, Morgantown, after a rapid, but hard fought battle with pulmonary fibrosis. She was surrounded by her family, lots of love, singing of hymns and prayers.
Alice was born Oct. 30, 1944, in Huntington. She was the youngest of three children born to Grayson Dashiell Thornton Jr. and Adele Kershaw. Alice grew up in Huntington and Proctorville, Ohio. She attended Penn State University, where she met David Darlington Bicking, whom she married Dec. 11, 1965. In 1967, she graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor's in Spanish. She entered the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1974 and completed her studies at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1976. On May 26, 1978, she became the third woman ordained in the Episcopal Church of West Virginia at St. John's Episcopal Church, Charleston. From 1977 to 1980, she served as an associate rector at St. John's, where she ran many education and outreach programs, including a daily soup kitchen. In 1980, her family moved to the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. On Sep. 21 that same year, she opened Christ Church, locally called Morgan's Chapel, Inwood until the church's closing in 1989. During this time period she continued her education at the Washington School of Psychiatry and the Institute for Pastoral Psychotherapy P.C. & C.C. graduating in 1980. She worked for P.C. & C.C. in Hagerstown and Bethesda, Md., until 1983. Afterwards she opened Shenandoah Pastoral Counseling Service serving the Eastern Panhandle and surrounding areas. While continuing to run this service for the community, she served as a supply priest for area churches both in Virginia and West Virginia. Last August, she returned to teaching as a Spanish teacher at Martinsburg High School. Even though she became ill shortly after she began, she loved the challenge and students.
She is survived by her sister, Adele Kershaw Thornton-Lewis and brother, Grayson Dashiell Thornton III and wife Jan. Also surviving are her daughter Alice Kathryn 'Katy' Schain and husband Jeremy, of Winchester, Va.; son, Nathan F. Bicking and wife Misty, of Charles Town; and five grandchildren, Allison Adele Schain (9), Kathryn Virginia Schain (5), Hannah Skye Bicking (9), Megan Elizabeth Bicking (7) and David Aaron Bicking (5).
Memorial services are to be held at Zion Episcopal Church, Charles Town at 11 a.m. Dec. 11, 2007. A later memorial service will also be held in Huntington, where she will be interred at Spring Hill Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers and in memory of Alice, please send donations to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation at www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org.
Alice was born Oct. 30, 1944, in Huntington. She was the youngest of three children born to Grayson Dashiell Thornton Jr. and Adele Kershaw. Alice grew up in Huntington and Proctorville, Ohio. She attended Penn State University, where she met David Darlington Bicking, whom she married Dec. 11, 1965. In 1967, she graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor's in Spanish. She entered the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1974 and completed her studies at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1976. On May 26, 1978, she became the third woman ordained in the Episcopal Church of West Virginia at St. John's Episcopal Church, Charleston. From 1977 to 1980, she served as an associate rector at St. John's, where she ran many education and outreach programs, including a daily soup kitchen. In 1980, her family moved to the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. On Sep. 21 that same year, she opened Christ Church, locally called Morgan's Chapel, Inwood until the church's closing in 1989. During this time period she continued her education at the Washington School of Psychiatry and the Institute for Pastoral Psychotherapy P.C. & C.C. graduating in 1980. She worked for P.C. & C.C. in Hagerstown and Bethesda, Md., until 1983. Afterwards she opened Shenandoah Pastoral Counseling Service serving the Eastern Panhandle and surrounding areas. While continuing to run this service for the community, she served as a supply priest for area churches both in Virginia and West Virginia. Last August, she returned to teaching as a Spanish teacher at Martinsburg High School. Even though she became ill shortly after she began, she loved the challenge and students.
She is survived by her sister, Adele Kershaw Thornton-Lewis and brother, Grayson Dashiell Thornton III and wife Jan. Also surviving are her daughter Alice Kathryn 'Katy' Schain and husband Jeremy, of Winchester, Va.; son, Nathan F. Bicking and wife Misty, of Charles Town; and five grandchildren, Allison Adele Schain (9), Kathryn Virginia Schain (5), Hannah Skye Bicking (9), Megan Elizabeth Bicking (7) and David Aaron Bicking (5).
Memorial services are to be held at Zion Episcopal Church, Charles Town at 11 a.m. Dec. 11, 2007. A later memorial service will also be held in Huntington, where she will be interred at Spring Hill Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers and in memory of Alice, please send donations to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation at www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org.
The Rev. Alice Leonor Thornton M. Div., departed this life Dec. 2, 2007, at Ruby Memorial Hospital, Morgantown, after a rapid, but hard fought battle with pulmonary fibrosis. She was surrounded by her family, lots of love, singing of hymns and prayers.
Alice was born Oct. 30, 1944, in Huntington. She was the youngest of three children born to Grayson Dashiell Thornton Jr. and Adele Kershaw. Alice grew up in Huntington and Proctorville, Ohio. She attended Penn State University, where she met David Darlington Bicking, whom she married Dec. 11, 1965. In 1967, she graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor's in Spanish. She entered the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1974 and completed her studies at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1976. On May 26, 1978, she became the third woman ordained in the Episcopal Church of West Virginia at St. John's Episcopal Church, Charleston. From 1977 to 1980, she served as an associate rector at St. John's, where she ran many education and outreach programs, including a daily soup kitchen. In 1980, her family moved to the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. On Sep. 21 that same year, she opened Christ Church, locally called Morgan's Chapel, Inwood until the church's closing in 1989. During this time period she continued her education at the Washington School of Psychiatry and the Institute for Pastoral Psychotherapy P.C. & C.C. graduating in 1980. She worked for P.C. & C.C. in Hagerstown and Bethesda, Md., until 1983. Afterwards she opened Shenandoah Pastoral Counseling Service serving the Eastern Panhandle and surrounding areas. While continuing to run this service for the community, she served as a supply priest for area churches both in Virginia and West Virginia. Last August, she returned to teaching as a Spanish teacher at Martinsburg High School. Even though she became ill shortly after she began, she loved the challenge and students.
She is survived by her sister, Adele Kershaw Thornton-Lewis and brother, Grayson Dashiell Thornton III and wife Jan. Also surviving are her daughter Alice Kathryn 'Katy' Schain and husband Jeremy, of Winchester, Va.; son, Nathan F. Bicking and wife Misty, of Charles Town; and five grandchildren, Allison Adele Schain (9), Kathryn Virginia Schain (5), Hannah Skye Bicking (9), Megan Elizabeth Bicking (7) and David Aaron Bicking (5).
Memorial services are to be held at Zion Episcopal Church, Charles Town at 11 a.m. Dec. 11, 2007. A later memorial service will also be held in Huntington, where she will be interred at Spring Hill Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers and in memory of Alice, please send donations to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation at www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org.
Alice was born Oct. 30, 1944, in Huntington. She was the youngest of three children born to Grayson Dashiell Thornton Jr. and Adele Kershaw. Alice grew up in Huntington and Proctorville, Ohio. She attended Penn State University, where she met David Darlington Bicking, whom she married Dec. 11, 1965. In 1967, she graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor's in Spanish. She entered the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1974 and completed her studies at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1976. On May 26, 1978, she became the third woman ordained in the Episcopal Church of West Virginia at St. John's Episcopal Church, Charleston. From 1977 to 1980, she served as an associate rector at St. John's, where she ran many education and outreach programs, including a daily soup kitchen. In 1980, her family moved to the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. On Sep. 21 that same year, she opened Christ Church, locally called Morgan's Chapel, Inwood until the church's closing in 1989. During this time period she continued her education at the Washington School of Psychiatry and the Institute for Pastoral Psychotherapy P.C. & C.C. graduating in 1980. She worked for P.C. & C.C. in Hagerstown and Bethesda, Md., until 1983. Afterwards she opened Shenandoah Pastoral Counseling Service serving the Eastern Panhandle and surrounding areas. While continuing to run this service for the community, she served as a supply priest for area churches both in Virginia and West Virginia. Last August, she returned to teaching as a Spanish teacher at Martinsburg High School. Even though she became ill shortly after she began, she loved the challenge and students.
She is survived by her sister, Adele Kershaw Thornton-Lewis and brother, Grayson Dashiell Thornton III and wife Jan. Also surviving are her daughter Alice Kathryn 'Katy' Schain and husband Jeremy, of Winchester, Va.; son, Nathan F. Bicking and wife Misty, of Charles Town; and five grandchildren, Allison Adele Schain (9), Kathryn Virginia Schain (5), Hannah Skye Bicking (9), Megan Elizabeth Bicking (7) and David Aaron Bicking (5).
Memorial services are to be held at Zion Episcopal Church, Charles Town at 11 a.m. Dec. 11, 2007. A later memorial service will also be held in Huntington, where she will be interred at Spring Hill Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers and in memory of Alice, please send donations to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation at www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org.
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