Mary Frances Horner

Mary Frances Horner (nee Smith) was born in Fresno, California on May 9, 1923. She graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High in 1942 with her twin brother, William Smith. She also had a younger sister, Ellyn Smith Gier.

As a child, she often dreamed that reaching the year 2000 was an impossible dream. Little could she have imagined that she would not only reach but surpass that dream by another 21 years.

April 13, 1944, Mary joined the US Marine Corps serving as an MP. She considered this one of the most inspiring times of her life. You can find Mary’s military history in the Arlington Women’s Memorial. She earned the rank of PFC and earned three medals: Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. She was discharged February 4, 1946.

Mary married Walter Tienken in 1946 in San Francisco. Her first son, Wallace Tienken was born in 1947. Later, Mary moved to Santa Cruz.

Mary worked as a taxi dispatcher at the Santa Cruz Yellow Cab Company where she met Donald Walton Horner. On September 27, 1953 she and Donald were married in his aunt’s home. Her second son, Thomas Horner, was born in 1954. The family moved to Fresno Street in 1960, purchasing the home they were married in seven years earlier.

Mary worked for the County of Santa Cruz as the central receiving clerk, and retired at 67 years of age. After retiring, she continued to be active. She was a super volunteer for the Dominican Hospital until 2012, driving “the old folks” to their appointments. At 89, she was still lifting walkers into her Buick’s trunk (no wheelchairs, please).

She and Donald loved traveling, visiting their son Tom in Japan, and snorkeling in Hawaii. Donald died January 27, 1989. In June 2000, Mary attended her granddaughter Tammy’s wedding in Barbados, snorkeling a nearby reef on the wedding day.

Until her move to Virginia, Mary was a member of the United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz, the VFW, and the Marine Corps League Detachment 711 of Monterey Bay.

Mary lived in Santa Cruz for 65 years. After a heart valve replacement, Mary spent her final six years living with her son Wally and his family in Virginia. During those years, she traveled to Europe twice, the Panama Canal, and twice a year to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Mary died at home in her son’s arms on January 14, 2021 in Williamsburg, VA. She is survived by Wally and Tom, four grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

Semper Fi, Mom

Go with God