Obituary of Alice Horn

Alice Rebecca Wootton Horn, 94, died peacefully at her daughter’s home in Orlando, FL, August 29, 2014. She was born in Hazard, KY, March 30, 1920, the daughter of Clara Collins and Bailey Peyton Wootton. Alice is the widow of William Murray Horn. Alice and her sister, Kitty Smither, now deceased, moved with their parents to Frankfort in 1933 when their father was elected KY Attorney General. Her father’s elected and appointed service in Frankfort secured her extended residence there until 1941 when he returned to his private law practice in Hazard. Alice was graduated from Frankfort HS in 1938 and the University of KY in 1942, with a B.S. in zoology. She completed master’s courses and taught zoology at UK as a graduate assistant until 1944. She also served as Asst. Dir. of Women’s Residences Halls during graduate school. From 1941 to 1947 she worked on the Hazard Herald, where her father was the publisher, and where she previewed the many first-hand reports from Ernie Pyle and secret Associated Press releases during WWII. Her family returned to Frankfort in 1947, where she worked as a lab assistant for Dr. W. H. Rush. In 1949 Alice married Bill Horn, who had left his position at the Frankfort Builders Supply to start Horn & Goin Co. with his brother-in-law, Philip Goin. At the time his other “day job” was serving in the KY House of Representatives. She laughed in later years about moving 5 times in her first 4 years of marriage from spec home to spec home, as their construction business grew. Together they reared and educated two daughters, Claramargaret Groover of Orlando and Rebecca Turner of Frankfort. In 1975 Alice started working with her husband at the Lawrenceburg Supply Company, a business partnership with her husband that grew out of Horn & Goin. She called herself a “stock boy” and she willingly assumed the role of assistant manager of the hardware store alongside company manager, Wesley McCoun, now deceased. In 1992 when her husband fell ill with Alzheimer’s and became resident at the Kentucky Veterans Center, Wilmore, she continued as Secretary-Treasurer and partner in the supply company operations by then owned solely by the Horns and the McCouns. Alice was a sought-after room-mother for 8 years alternating between her girls’ classes at Capital Day School and she served many years as a Girl Scout Leader for Rebecca’s troop. She participated in many historical organizations throughout her life: Children of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution, Mayflower Society, Colonial Dames of America Chapter IX, National Society of Daughters of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth, Kentucky Historical Society, and Lake County (Florida) Historical Society. She was an active member of First Baptist Church Frankfort, its W.M.U., Ora Adams and Discover Sunday School classes. As a young girl, Alice traveled extensively with her family to their homes in Arizona and Florida. Her annual pilgrimage to her Florida home in Tavares was a given, as was her mother’s before her. Her father was a charter member of the Lake Region Packing Assn. in Tavares, Florida. She and Bill established their official resident there over thirty years ago. She is survived by her daughters, Claramargaret (Orlando) and Rebecca (Frankfort), her grandson, Nathaniel Groover (Christy) (Orlando), and granddaughter, Laura Turner (Louisville); her great-grandchildren Jackson and Harper Groover; her son-in-law, James E. McCabe; her step-grandsons, Oliver (Devi) (Buckingham, VA)and Shaun (Jen) (Durham, NC) McCabe, and five McCabe great grandchildren, Connor, Skylar, Quinn, Meara, and Rex. Visitation will be at Rogers Funeral Home from 4:00 to 7:00 pm Friday, followed by interment in the Frankfort Cemetery. The funeral service will be held at First Baptist Church at 10:00 a.m. Saturday. September 13, 2014. Donations in lieu of flowers to First Baptist Church, 201 St. Clair Street, Frankfort 40601, or to the Christian Service Center, 808 West Central Boulevard, Orlando 32805, are welcome.