Dr. Joe J. Horn (Plainview)

Joe J. Horn, M.D., died March 5, 2014 in Plainview. He was born in Wellington, Texas, on February 9, 1925 to Ruth and Roy Horn. He graduated from Wellington High School in 1942. He entered the University of Texas in 1942 and joined the Navy when World War II erupted. In 1946, he was honorably discharged from the Navy and reentered UT. On July 30, 1950, he married Ann Combs in her hometown of Whitesboro, Texas. They were married 63 years. That same year, Dr. Horn graduated from UT and was accepted to Southwestern Medical School, where in 1954 he received his M.D. In 1955, he and Ann and 1-year-old son, Mark, moved to Plainview, where Dr. Horn entered private practice at the Medical Center, 220 St. Louis Street. In 1962, Joe, Ann and their four children (Mark, Steve, Nancy and Holly) moved to Houston, where Dr. Horn completed his Internal Medicine Residency under the Baylor program. In 1965, the family returned to Plainview, where Horn resumed private practice for the next 25 years. During that time, he was chief of staff at the former Plainview Hospital, where he directed many improvements in medical procedures and patient care. In 1990, he began dividing his time between private practice and prison medical practice. In 1996, he was named Medical Director of the Formby- Wheeler prison units in east Plainview until retirement in 2009. In 2008, Dr. Horn was honored as one of Plainview’s most influential citizens of the past century at its Centennial Celebration. Throughout his adult life, Dr. Horn was involved in many Plainview civic activities. He was an officer in the Lions Club, Toastmasters, supported The Salvation Army, the Chamber of Commerce, the Plainview-Hale County Industrial Foundation, YMCA, Wayland Baptist University and the United Way. Dr. Horn’s faith in God has been integral in his life. He was a member and held offices from 1955-1962 at Trinity Methodist Church in Plainview. For more than 40 years, he was an active member and officer and served on committees at First United Methodist Church. Dr. Horn was passionate about the Bible, and he was a beloved teacher of God’s Word for adult and youth Sunday School throughout his service at First Methodist. He was also avidly involved in The Gideons International and the prison ministry in Tulia and Plainview Dr. Horn enjoyed painting, playing golf, shooting home movies and still photographs, spending weekends at their condominium at Possum Kingdom Lake and Horn family reunions at Mt. Gaylor in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. He traveled extensively with Ann, the children and the grandchildren. He also loved watching the University of Texas Longhorns and Dallas Cowboys football on TV and in person. He attended one of the first Cowboys game, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Dr. Horn is survived by wife, Ann, and their four children: Mark and wife Kathleen; Steve; Nancy and husband George Quin; Holly and husband, Mark Fabiny. Grandchildren include Sarah and husband, James Ward; Abby Horn; Ryan, Paul and Travis Quin; Analiese and Jared Fabiny; and great granddaughter, Emma Grace Ward. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. today, Friday March 7, at Kornerstone Funeral Directors. The funeral is Saturday March 8 at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church. Burial will follow in Parklawn Memorial Gardens under the care of Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Plainview.