Margaret Elizabeth Martin Horne passed away on July 26th, 2018, attended by her family. Always known as Betty, she was born August 25th, 1927 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her parents, Lulu Rovena Stigletts Martin and James H. Martin, relocated to New Orleans during their working years, and retired to property where Lulu's family had first settled on the Mississippi coast. Her only sibling, James H. Martin, Jr was seven years older and preceded her in death by decades.

Betty's start as the baby of the family and only daughter, with eight aunts living nearby, no doubt contributed to her vivacious and social disposition. Upon graduating from Newcomb College in New Orleans, soon after World War II released its grip on the world, Betty married James Grady Horne, Jr, a Texan who had come to study at Tulane University when mustered out of the US Navy after VJ Day. She herself had begun a career in social work, but soon enough adapted to the academic life style, as 'Grady' became a PhD and, by the early 1960s, a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Georgia in Athens. The couple had three children, Karen Elizabeth (1953-2000), Charles Grady (1955-), and Alan Duren (1958-).

Betty balanced being a devoted mom and an essential partner to her husband with her extensive volunteer work. She volunteered for Recording for the Blind and League of Women Voters, and also actively prosecuted many roles in the good works of Athens' First Presbyterian Church. And she never relinquished her love of music, and went from piano lessons with her aunt to mastering works of Bach and Beethoven on her Steinway grand piano.

In her last days at the Memory Care unit where she lived, the staff always put her at the front of the attendees at musical events because her enthusiasm lit up the crowd, and also so that they could quickly assure that her urge to dance did not exceed her balance and strength at age ninety.

Betty was preceded in death by her ex-husband, J.G. Horne, and her oldest child, Karen Elizabeth Horne Maier.

Survivors include son Charles Grady Horne and his wife Rebecca with their sons Nathan and Walker, and daughters Kalle (mother of Ilyana) and Audrey; son Alan Duren Horne and his wife Carol with her daughters Erica Feriozzi (mother of Mia and Vincent) and Judith Barkstedt; and John Maier, husband of Karen Horne Maier, remarried to Connie Maier, and their children Charlie, Keke, Heather Gair, and Matthew.

Rather than flowers, the family prefers that each person touched by Betty's life make a gift, not necessarily financial, to a cause that furthers her essential personal choice: help the world while being responsible, which deserves the finest effort we can make, and there is no reason not to enjoy each hour as fully as we can.

Lord and Stephens, West is in charge of arrangements.

www.lordandstephens.com