Constance Anne Horton

Connie, as she was known to her friends and family, was born in Harlingen, Texas on April 2, 1947. Her father, Col. (Ret.) George Earl Allen (Earl), was from Iowa. He was a doctor who was a co-founder of a hospital in Harlingen and had his practice there. Connie's mother, Wilma Williams Allen, from Michigan, was a Registered Nurse. Connie was the youngest of four daughters born to Earl and Wilma. Her sisters all married and raised their own families. Kati lives in California, while Chris and Carole both reside in Texas.

During the Korean War, Earl was drafted into the Army. He stayed in the Army and retired as a Colonel. Being in the Army required the family to move often, so Connie had the opportunity to live in Germany and tour Europe, as well as live in California, Texas and Washington. She told a story about the language barrier in Germany when she was about six years old in which she thought she traded a ride on her bicycle for an

orange. Actually, it turned out she traded her bike for the orange. It took the intervention of her parents and much diplomacy to get her bike back. She had memories of marching in parades and learning to drive a tractor in California. In Texas, she told of the "terrible red dust" in San Antonio,

and burrs that would ruin her bicycle tires. She developed a love for riding horses in Texas too. In the Evergreen State (Washington), Connie fell in love with the "green" in Evergreen and with the Cascade Mountains. She loved hiking and skiing in Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker National Parks.

Connie graduated from Lakes High School in Tacoma, Washington and planned to attend the University of Puget Sound after being offered a diving scholarship on the swim team, but an accident on the high board one afternoon ended that dream. She did go on to Washington State

University to study Institutional Nutrition, Psychology, and Veterinary Medicine. She never graduated from WSU. There, she met a young man named David Horton. They fell in love and were married in the Lake City Presbyterian Church on July 28, 1967. After they married, the couple left school and settled in Seattle, Washington and started a life together that lasted nearly forty eight years.

In 1968, Connie and Dave had the first of their two children. Raegina Earlyne Horton (Weber) was born on May 7. Three years later, on October 14, Daniel David Horton was born. They were both raised in Shoreline, Washington and graduated from Shorewood High School. Raegina went to the University of Washington, graduated with teaching credentials, and is a teacher in Everett, Washington. She is married and living in Snohomish, Washington, where she and her husband Jonathan are raising Connie's three grandchildren, Colby, Kendal, and Chase. Daniel was killed in an auto accident in May of 1989.

Connie paid all due diligence to raising her kids, but also had many interests outside the home. She was passionate about her Christian faith, attending church with her family. As a Deacon at Bethel Presbyterian Church, she served and trusted Jesus. Connie loved attending her local football and baseball teams the Seahawks and the Mariners. She was a motorcycle rider, and loved camping and hiking to area waterfalls. Connie also had several jobs outside the home. She ran a sewing machine in a drapery shop, sold Amway products, worked as a carhop at a drive-in restaurant, worked in a candy factory, and tested cars at the Emmision Station for the State. She even went back to school to get a Real Estate license and became a successful Realtor.

Connie was living in Snohomish, Washington when she died on June 25, 2015. She was 68 years old. She died of Renal and Lung failure complicated by seriously advanced Rheumatoid Arthritis. She is survived by her husband Dave, her daughter Raegina, and her three grandchildren, Colby, Kendal, and Chase. She is also survived by three sisters, Kati, Chris and Carole, and by an entire family network that she knew loved and cherished her, and whom she loved and cherished in return.

Connie's only request was that everyone might go to YouTube and listen to Amazing Grace, and for everybody to love each other better.