Editor’s note: The memorial service time has been changed to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 13.
Stephen Thorngate, 99, of Whitewater, Wisconsin, died in his sleep on November 29, 2025. He was born on July 15, 1926, in Shanghai, China, to George III and Helen Shaw Thorngate, who were medical missionaries in nearby Liuhe. Upon graduating high school in Alfred, New York, in 1944, he enlisted in the Navy and served mostly on hospital ships in the Pacific. Returning to the United States after the war, he attended Milton College in Milton, Wisconsin, Alfred University in Alfred, New York, and medical school at Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio. He did his residency at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. In the course of his long career as a general surgeon, he served the communities of Monterey, California; Hyden, Kentucky; Clarksburg, West Virginia; and Park Falls, Wisconsin. Doc, as he was often called by his friends and acquaintances, loved to sing, and had a wonderful sense of humor. He sang in barbershop choruses in most of the communities he lived in. He often came up with clever spontaneous quips, which were then added to his collection of predictable (and highly quotable) comments. He was a lifelong learner, particularly interested in Biblical archaeology and history of any kind.
He was preceded in death by his loving wife of nearly seventy years, Beverly Burdick Thorngate; his parents; his three brothers, George Thorngate IV, David Thorngate, and Philip Thorngate; his beloved in-laws, Russell and Dora Burdick, Marjorie and Wayne Munns and Joan Case; and great-granddaughter Cora Jane Thorngate-Gales. He is survived by his four children, Diane Griffith (Paul), Stephen Thorngate II (Lisa), Patricia Thorngate, and Russell Thorngate; thirteen grandchildren; and eighteen great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held for Stephen at The Connecting Church, 720 E. Madison Ave., Milton, WI 53563, on December 13 at 1:30 PM. The Albrecht Funeral Homes & Cremation Services Milton is assisting with arrangements.
