John Frederick William Horner

John Horner was born in London, England. As a child, John was part of Operation Pied Piper, the evacuation of children to the countryside during World War II. He spent several years living with families in rural England before returning to his parents in London.

John served for 8 years in the British Army “Royal Signals” in the post-war occupation of Germany and Italy. He was in an Airborne division and made many parachute jumps in training. John immigrated to America in 1954 with his first wife, Maisie, and lived on Long Island, New York until 1967, when he moved to California. He married Norma, his second wife, in 1970, and they moved to Seattle in 1994 to be close to Norma’s family.

In his early years in the U.S., John first worked in a metal fabrication shop operating a drill press, and then through a family connection got a job in electronics assembly in the home of Saul Marantz, who had recently started his audio products engineering company. (Yes, that Marantz!) He learned electronics, and then switched to software, and became a programmer and eventually an IT Manager in the aerospace industry until he retired in the late 1980s.

In addition to computers and electronics, John had many interests over his lifetime, including art, astronomy, and firearms. He even relived his old Army days by celebrating his 80th birthday with a tandem jump from 13,000 feet! He made a few solo jumps after that, until he broke his leg on a hard landing. But John’s greatest passion was his music. He loved listening to all types of music and loved playing his autoharp every day. John was very active in the Northwest autoharp community for many years, and even wrote a song that was published in the Autoharp Quarterly magazine.

John was preceded in death by his brother Robert Horner, and is survived by his stepson Jon Diemer and wife Martha, his grandchildren Kristin Russell and Neil Diemer and their families, his sister-in-law Nan Allen, and several relatives in England. His many West Seattle neighbors were like an extended family for John, and he deeply appreciated their friendship and support over the years.

John was 89 years old when he passed away, and had achieved his goal of living independently until the very end! A memorial and celebration of John’s life is planned for Sunday, January 14th from 2-4 PM at his house in West Seattle.

Please Share Memories of John on the online guestbook at emmickfunerals.com

Arrangements Entrusted to Emmick Family Funeral & Cremation Services of West Seattle