Early Catholic Years Set Pattern for County Leader

CREST HAVEN – The past few weeks have been amazing for the director of the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Gerald Thornton. On March 12 he was honored by the American Association of University Women and the Cape May County Advisory Commission on the Status of Women for his part in helping to establish the Commission 20 years ago.
In his acceptance of the honor he credited his mother who insisted he take his rightful turn in “washing the dinner dishes and not just expect (his) sister to do it all the time.” He has also been named “Freeholder of the Year” by the New Jersey Association of Counties.
By all accounts Thornton is hard working, accessible and well-liked by colleagues and constituents alike. The Herald interviewed him to find out where he acquired those traits.
Thornton was born in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, the oldest of eight children of a working-class Roman Catholic family. “My dad was a Roman Catholic and went to mass with us kids every Sunday. I wouldn’t say he was super religious but he would go to the special feast days and the novenas.
“I always went with him because afterwards he would take us to get ice cream,” Thornton recalled with a winkle in his eye, “It was a motivational factor – the carrot.” Or in this case the ice cream.
Thornton attended Catholic parochial grade school where the discipline and good work habits he was learning at home were reinforced by “the good Sisters.”
“There again I found parochial school to be educationally-focused and disciplined.” Given that it was the norm for parochial schools of that era to have 50 to 70 pupils to a classroom with one teacher, discipline and order were essential.
By high school Thornton’s parents had divorced and his mother, a Lutheran, had remarried. It was an amicable split and there was no strife between his father and step-father.
“I really had two fathers. They both loved me and wanted me to succeed,” he said.
Thornton remembered numerous occasions when both his fathers would take him out for dinner, just the three of them. He said one of the hallmarks of his family, his religious training and his neighborhood was “respect for your elders.”
Thornton said,”Even the way you addressed an adult or older person showed respect. It was always Miss or Misses or Mister, never by their first name.” And the adults of the neighborhood knew the children and kept an eye on them. “If I did something wrong down the block, my parents knew about it before I got home,” he laughed.
He has taken that sense of community involvement and applied it in his life especially his political life. “I know what it’s like to be financially-challenged,” Thornton said. This has made him cognizant of the burden ordinary people bear to keep a roof over their heads.
While Thornton considers himself conservative he is no Libertarian. “I think government should go out of its way to help working people, especially the working poor,” he said.
He recalls how he saw his parish church, Ascension in Philadelphia, reach out and serve those in need or struggling to deal with their problems and difficulties. He laments that government has taken over many of the functions that used to be filled by the church or the extended family or private philanthropy.
He thinks many parents have dropped the ball and abdicated their responsibilities. “Government has become a charity and replaced many traditional institutions,” he said, noting that in some instances government has interfered with the work of private charities. He cited the present federal government administration’s disagreement with the Little Sisters of the Poor.
“What has been disturbing to me is when people want a free ride. People have to be responsible for themselves,” he said.
After high school at North Catholic, an institution that was run by the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, Thornton, with the encouragement of his two fathers, enlisted in the Air Force where his childhood discipline and sense of values were honed.
He spent 12 years serving in uniform. He finds it disturbing that so many people show disrespect for the foundational institutions of the country – the military, the police, the clergy.
His time in the Air Force exposed him to people from around the world and he learned that “just because people look different or speak a different language they are 99.44 percent just like we are. Kids know this instinctively. Did you ever see how kids act together? A kid will play with another kid from anywhere. We adults should be more like little kids,” he added.
Thornton has two adult sons, and grandchildren, two granddaughters and two grandsons of his own.
He is married to his second wife Linda Lindsay Thornton, administrator of Crest Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, the county-operated facility.
“I have a great deal of compassion for the elderly and disabled. My mother took care of her mother until my grandmother died. My dad was the youngest of 11 children and he took care of his father at home until he died. My faith and family upbringing teaches me that is what you do – you help your family and your neighbors, then if you can’t, the government helps out.” 
Thornton is still a strong believer in the Christian doctrine and values of his youth but confesses to a lapse in formal practice. “That’s something I plan to get back to doing on a more regular basis,” he said somewhat chagrined, adding “I’m getting older.” 
But the lessons of service and “Love thy neighbor,” respect for authority, and work hard don’t be a freeloader instilled by his family and church have stood him in good stead for his entire life. He hopes that he has passed those ideals on to his children and is helping to pass them to his grandchildren.
“They’re a basis for a good life,” he said.
ED. NOTE: Faith and religion are important facets in the Cape May County community. The author plans to do stories on various aspects of religion and what impact it has on those who practice it. She encourages those with ideas on subjects to email her at hmccaffrey@cmcherald.com for consideration.