George Francis Horning

George Francis Horning, 92, was born March 26, 1924, to George Edwin Horning and Nancy Rose Horning in Corvallis, Oregon, and grew up on the family farm. George was the eldest and surviving twin of seven siblings: Ivan (Pat), Julian (Noreen), Viola (Clarence Morrison), Nancy Ann (Harold Howard), Betty (Lehrl Conn), and Sandy (Herb Hull). He passed away on August 9, 2016, at home, the family farm he and his brother Ivan started over 70 years ago. He was a farmer, a WW2 veteran, a devoted husband, and beloved father and grandfather. He attended Eureka grade school and graduated Monroe High School in May 1941. He went to work on a turkey ranch in Irish Bend until the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when he worked at Camp Adair as a carpenter apprentice. Enlisting in the U.S. Navy September 1942, he trained in San Diego on torpedoes and received an award for expert rifle and pistol marksmanship. He was stationed in Papua, New Guinea, and was cut by shrapnel when the USS Mt. Hood exploded in November 1944 near Manus Island while he was on deck of another ship in the blast zone. When the war ended, he had earned the rank of Specialist (X) Second Class. George retired from the U.S. Navy Reserve in April 1984 with the rank of First Class Petty Officer. George’s military service was a source of great pride, and in October 2014, he made an Honor Flight to Washington D.C. On a weekend leave in December 1944, he married his high school sweetheart, Eleanor Loretta Bailey, with whom he accumulated over 500 pages of wartime correspondence and 71 years of rich memories. They raised six children on their farm and dairy, along with cattle and turkeys. Even after closing the dairy in 1985, George always kept a few cows. As a boy, George had loved working with the horses that pulled the farm implements, and after the war in 1946, he and Ivan bought 30 acres from their father and started farming. Over the years they grew sweet corn, table beets, peppermint, wheat, squash, field corn, and beans. In the early years of growing pole beans, George bought some retired school buses and had a route to pick up the bean pickers and hoeing crews every morning, employing many young people and creating great memories. He was generous with his time and has a long record of community service and civic-mindedness, serving on the board of directors of many organizations: Eureka and Irish Bend grade schools, 20 years on the Monroe High School Board, the Agri-Pac Board of Directors, the Benton County Draft Board, as well as thirty-five years on the Consumers Power Board, seventeen of them as chairman. George enjoyed organizing community events such as pet parades, talent shows, and movie nights at the Monroe Methodist Church, where he and Eleanor were lifelong members. He was also active with the Monroe Cemetery Association and the VFW. In short, he loved bringing people together and organized many family gatherings and reunions over the years. Even George and Eleanor’s greatest vacation was a 9-day community rafting trip floating the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. (moved and cut hobbies paragraph) George is preceded in death by his wife, Eleanor, children George Clifford (Kathleen) and Loretta Susan, two grandchildren, Lydia Marie Horning and Zachary Cook, and brothers Ivan and Julian. He wrote that the “greatest reward” of his life is “my family,” and he leaves behind a loving clan who will miss him dearly: his children, Kathy Freeman (Paul Kafoury), Diana Gamache (Bill), Eric (Christine), and David (Dan Ogle); fourteen grandchildren, George Earl, Ted, Lance, Susan, Kenneth, Terri, Kimberly, Jennifer, Errin, Nathan, Nicholas, Connor, Reid, and Montessa; twenty-seven great-grandchildren, and nine great-great grandchildren. A funeral service is planned for 2:00 p.m., Sunday, August 14, at the Monroe High School gymnasium, followed by a graveside service at Monroe Cemetery. The casket will be open for one hour prior to the service. There will be a dessert social at the high school commons following the graveside service. Memorial contributions may be made to South Benton Historical Association of Monroe, the Monroe Cemetery Association, or a charity of choice in care of McHenry Funeral Home, 206 N.W. Fifth St., Corvallis, OR 97330.

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George Francis Horning

March 26, 1924 - August 9, 2016