Obituary of Maurice Darnell Horn

Commander Maurice Darnell Horn, Jr., USN, (Ret), affectionately known as “Toby” to friends and family, passed peacefully from our world into the Lord’s loving hands while surrounded by loved ones on 12 March 2018. He is survived by his wife, Jane Ayers Horn; his four children, Steven, Edith, Wade and Matt; five grandchildren, Shannon, Garett, Stacy, Insley, and Rush; and two great grandchildren, Madison and Maraleigh. Born in Baltimore, MD, 6 January 1935, he has two surviving siblings (his sister, Susanne H. Duckworth and brother, George K. Horn). Toby enlisted in the US Navy in May 1953 and worked his way up through the ranks before retiring in 1980 as a “mustang” Commander. During his term of service he was instrumental in the development and implementation of new naval mine warfare systems. He served overseas in Japan, Taiwan, Guam, Norway, Malta, Crete, the UK, Sicily, Sweden, Germany, Scotland, with three deployments in Vietnam. In the US, he served in San Diego, CA, Whidbey Island, WA, Key West, FL, Newport, RI, Charleston, SC, Yorktown, VA, and Washington, DC. He was one of the founders of the Navy’s Association of Minemen and before he retired in Charleston, SC, was the Senior Mineman of the Navy. These are only a few of the highlighted places he has been and served his country faithfully, but more importantly the people, family and friends of whose lives he touched wherever he went. Toby was an undeniable force of nature. He aspired to perfection in all he did often inspiring others to excel around him with an encouraging word or a gentle push if needed. He would give a stranger the shirt off his back and brush it off by saying, he was too hot anyway. There was no place he went that he didn’t leave a friend….special friendships from around the world that followed him all the days of his life. A true renaissance man, there was nothing he couldn’t do once he set his mind to it. He was an officer and a gentleman, a mechanical engineer, quilter, beekeeper and gifted artist. As a painter and a wood carver, he created decoys so lifelike, you expected them to take wing the second he finished carving in the last little feather. He loved his country with the heart of a lion, was fiercely protective of loved ones and friends when called upon, but underneath it all was the kind and gentle heart we all loved. Someone has written that in the end, “a man’s worth isn’t measured by how much he loved, but by how much he was loved by others,” and he was loved very deeply by all. A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00PM, Saturday, 17 March, at Grace Church Cathedral, 98 Wentworth Street, Charleston. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be given to the Association of Minemen, PO Box 510519, Punta Gorda, FL 33951-0519; Samaritan’s Purse, PO Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607; The Fisher House, www.fisherhousecharleston.org; Gary Senise Foundation, PO Box 50008, Studio City, CA 91614-5001; St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105; or Water Mission, PO. Box 71489, N. Charleston, SC 29415. Arrangements are handled by Simplicity: Lowcountry Cremation & Burial Services – North Charleston.