Martha May Horn

LIFE SKETCH FOR MARTHA HORN

Martha May Horn was born May 1, 1924 in Onoway, Alberta. She was the youngest child of six born to Rudolph William and Augusta Gross Horn.

She attended Victoria High School, graduating in June of 1944. She also had two years of college work at Canadian Union College and further training at Scott’s Business College.

In 1945 she began her working career with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Martha was employed for three years as a teacher in the Alberta Conference, followed by another three years as an office secretary for the Manitoba/Saskatchewan conference with a brief fill in teaching job for the conference as well.

Then her life took a different turn as she accepted a call to be office secretary for the South American Division. From 1952 to 1970 she was based in Montevideo, Uruguay, becoming fluent in Spanish and making lifelong friends among the other missionaries.

In 1970 Martha agreed to become the office secretary for the Ethiopian Union in Addis Ababa, a part of the Afro Mideast Division. Her niece, Mary Lane Anderson, was also stationed in Addis Ababa with her husband Les, so for the first time she had family close.

Marth’s excellent secretarial skills brought her to the attention of the General Conference. She became the Recording Secretary for that entity in 1973, a position she held until 1989. Upon her retirement, the General Conference voted to express thanks and appreciation to Martha for over 43 years of faithful denominational service.

In 1989 she moved to College Heights, Alberta to be closer to family. She spent many happy hours driving all over in her little blue car: to visit her sister Helen in Sylvan Lake, to Red Deer, and one of her favorite places--to the surrounding nurseries. She provided a home for her great niece Katherine Murrin while Kathy attended CUC, and was a faithful and active member of the College Heights church.

When Helen’s husband John passed away in 2003 and Helen sold their home, Martha invited her to come stay until Royal Oak was ready for occupation. Helen moved into Royal Oak in the spring of 2004 and shortly after, Martha also bought a condo across the hallway. About ten years later it became apparent that Martha required further care so she moved into the assisted living wing of Royal Oak. Her nieces Carmen and Barb visited her almost daily until her death in 2020 at the age of 96.

In Memory of Martha donations may be directed to the ADRA Canada, https://www.adra.ca/

A Graveside Service will be held on Wednesday May 06, 2020 at 2:00 pm at the Fairview Cemetery Lacombe

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