Roger Marion Horne

We bid farewell to the jolliest of fellows and the gentlest giant. Roger Marion Horne passed away suddenly on Monday, April 17, 2023 in his Sandy, Utah home. He was 86 years old but retained throughout his life a childlike delight in all things zany, quirky, and uncommon.

Roger and his identical twin brother Richard were born to Maurine Derrick and Marion Seth Horne on December 5, 1936 in Washington, DC.  Richard passed shortly after birth, so Roger was an only child until he was joined by four younger siblings: Phyllis Helen, William Douglas, Gregory Greenwood, Nevi Bonnina.

During the 1940s young Rog delivered newspapers along the tree-lined streets of Arlington, Virginia to earn enough money to buy his first dog, a beloved beagle named Rascal. He loved riding streetcars over the Key Bridge to attend 2-hour piano lessons under the tutelage of Maestro Arturo Papalardo.  In his free time Roger was given permission to practice on the large pipe organ at St Mary’s Episcopal Church, where the rapscallion relished in pulling out all the stops on the organ to make the sound majestically loud.

In 1953 the Hornes moved to Phoenix, Arizona where Roger graduated from North Phoenix High School.  Four years later he sailed to the Netherlands to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There he was the first missionary to knock on the door of Jacob de Jager who later became a general authority. De Jager’s wife said that when she opened her door she “had a rare eye-to-eye conversion, for he was so spiritual and full of the spirit of the Lord.”

Roger attended Brigham Young University, University of Arizona, and Arizona State University for undergraduate studies.  In 1965 he graduated from UCLA with a law degree, and subsequently passed the state bar in both California and Arizona. He worked short stints as a public defender in Los Angeles and later as a clerk for Arizona’s then-senator Sandra Day O’Connor.  But Rog didn’t enjoy the law practice, probably because he wasn’t the fighting type.  He left to become in-house legal counsel for James Stewart Company, his father’s commercial real estate business.

Roger returned to BYU, and after many dates and dances with various girls, he found The One typing away as a secretary in the administration building.  Carol Lynn Johnson and Roger were sealed May 1, 1970, in the Salt Lake Temple.  That led to the next great adventures of his life, welcoming and raising eight children.

Their first home was in Tempe, Arizona. Some of the happiest times of Roger’s and Carol’s lives were spent in the Tempe Arizona 9^th Ward while raising their first six children. The tightknit group of friends played countless games of Rook, participated in ward roadshows, and ate out at many a Mexican food restaurant all while navigating young parenthood. Rog was a master builder of rope bridges and swings for ward campouts.  He took great pleasure in taking his little children camping, to witness desert lightning storms and flash floods, to explore Hole in the Rock near the Phoenix Zoo, and to watch airplanes land at Sky Harbor. He always sought to expose his children to all things strange, unique, and exciting.

In 1979, Roger and Carol moved with their six children under the age of eight to Great Falls, Virginia to work as Construction Manager for his father’s company.  Within months, Roger was called to serve as Bishop of the newly formed Herndon Ward. Roger had a deep and loyal testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, always studying, reading and trying to teach his children.

The year 1982 brought child #7, Christopher “Buddy” Douglas Horne who profoundly changed Roger’s life; and a move to a second home in Great Falls.  Roger often took the kids and dog Bingo to explore the Falls on the Potomac. He bought a grand player piano and loved to play tricks on any guest who would sit and listen to his “playing”, always the practical joker to the unsuspecting.  He was a permanent fixture as organist in Tyson’s and Great Falls Wards, but also held various callings in addition.  Child #8 was a pleasant surprise in Roger’s ripe years, so much so that he was sometimes asked if he was the grandfather to David Seth Horne!

One final move in 1992 brought Roger and Carol to Sandy, Utah where he worked as General Manager of the Best Western Hotel at Temple Square.  He and Buddy became well-known wherever they went, side by side.  As his children grew older and started to fly the coop Roger kept busy with things he enjoyed.  He and Buddy went to the movies, rode TRAX around the city, attended musicals and the ballet, bargain shopped for all the things he didn’t need, hunted for thousands of golf balls on the golf course behind his house, and his all-time favorite pastime was treasure hunting at the Deseret Industries second-hand store.

A proud grandpa to 20 grandchildren, he took interest in their activities and whereabouts.  Roger had a long-time hobby of writing letters.  These weren’t run-of-the-mill letters.  They were over-the-top letters filled with clippings from newspapers, magazines, and catalogs, tailored to the life and interests of each recipient. Now they are treasured reminders of the time, thought and love Roger put into each unique packet.

Roger and Buddy were regular volunteers at the Bishop’s Storehouse in Murray until it closed.  He received a call to be a Church Service Missionary at the Conference Center.  Every Thursday night for 15 years Roger led tours of the Conference Center where he bore his testimony of Christ in his unconventional way. He so enjoyed it when his children and grandchildren would join him on a tour.

An appreciator of alliterations and big silly terms like “incorporeal hereditament”, he avoided mediocrity like the plague. He loved watching the weather roll in, especially thunderstorms, and to watch the “evening glow” on the Wasatch Mountains from his deck.  He loved flowers, lots of them, the brighter and more colorful, the better.  Simple beauties gave him great joy.

Quirky, kind, curious, eccentric, caring. That’s who Roger was to those who knew him best.  To him, his life wasn’t so much about any “resume” of accomplishments, but about loving people; finding the pizzazz, color, and goofiness in everything around him; and then doing his best to share that with others.  He gained pure delight from almost any person, place, or event, and then he radiated that delight to others.  He was ready with a joke and a smile and accepted  those around him even when he wasn’t always accepted by them. His greatest legacy is the unadulterated, tireless, consistent devotion to his special needs son “Buddy”.  They were never apart.  His mortal chapter completed, Roger moves on with gregarious gusto and gumption.

Roger is preceded in death by his mother, father, brothers Richard and Greg, son James “Bucky” Stewart Horne, and daughter Tiffany Nicole Horne Lewis. He is survived by his wife Carol, and 6 children: Katie (Wade) Peabody, Gina (Victor) Sipos, Kimberly (Braden) Taylor, Jennifer (James) Breese, Christopher “Buddy” Horne, and David Horne. He also leaves behind brother Doug, sisters Helen and Nevi, 20 grandchildren, and scores of nieces and nephews who will remember quacky Uncle Roger.

Join us at a viewing Friday, April 21, 2023 10:00 am, followed by a funeral service 11:00 am at Willow Creek 9^th Ward chapel: 2115 E. Creek Rd, Sandy, Utah.  Dedication of grave and burial at Salt Lake City Cemetery 200 N St E SLC, UT 84103 (upper northwest corner) on Saturday April 22 at 11:00 am.

Funeral services will be streamed Friday, April 21, 2023 beginning at 10:50 a.m. and can be accessed by clicking on the following link - https://www.willowcreekstake.com/funeral