Obituary of Thomas Horner

On October 5, 1925, in Bethlehem, PA, I was born "at home" in a house that did not have indoor plumbing. I was delivered by a women doctor who drove an electric car. My parents were Maud Louise (Gruver) and Russell Conwell Horner. I had two older sisters, Janet (deceased) and Marion (deceased). While growing up, I attended Bethlehem public schools and had many jobs-selling magazines (starting at age 8), delivering newspapers, singing in a boy's choir, setting up pins in a bowing alley, "jerking sodas" at a drug store, and 'stocking" and "checking-out" at Bethlehem's first "supermarket". In 1942, at 17, I enlisted in the Marine Corps. After a year and a half in the Pacific area, I was aboard ship, on my way back to the states from Guam to attend Officer's Candidate School (in preparation for invading Japan) when the nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I arrived in San Francisco on VJ day (August 14, 1945). I was discharged on Sept. 26 (no longer a need for OCS). I attended Lehigh University (on GI Bill), and received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in Feb 1950, and immediately went to work for IBM. Starting as a Customer Engineer in Philadelphia, I progressed through development engineering, product testing (local and HQ), and was manager of the IBM UK Product Testing Laboratory at the time of the System 360 announcement in 1964 in Hursely, England, where the prototype was designed. After returning to the USA, I had various managerial/staff jobs in Product Test, Quality Assurance, and Product Standards. I retired from IBM in 1987. Over the years, I've had many interests and hobbies—motorcycles, cars (hot rods and sports cars), guns, and airplanes. I started flying in 1971, at age 46, and quit at age 80. My good friend, Charlie Conklin, introduced me to aerobatics in 1977 (by announcing to my flying buddies "I'm going to make Tom sick"). I was "sold" and subsequently flew with some of the top aerobatic pilots/instructors in the country (Daniel and Montaine Heligoin, Clint McHenry and Bill Kershner). In my first marriage (1946), I fathered four intelligent/capable children, Rebecca (Accord, NY), Jennifer (Athens, OH), Judson (Boston, MA), and Mitchell and partner Janie (Starksboro, VT). They have all been successful in the paths they have chosen to follow. My second marriage (1971) to my lovely, devoted and pretty wife, Barbara, gave me three fine step-children, Kevin Gates and partner Charyl Slezak (Rhinebeck, NY), Michael Gates (Pleasant Valley, NY) and partner Sara Healy, Jill Karn and husband Jeffrey(Poughkeepsie, NY) , who have also been successful in the directions they have chosen. Grandchildren Ryan Patrick McKenzie, Brody and Jenna Karn, Scott, Fletcher and Bethany Ellison. My final hope is that every man experiences a life equal to mine. Cheers. Calling Hours will be held Monday October 24, 2016 from 4pm to 7pm at the Timothy P. Doyle Funeral Home 371 Hooker Ave. Poughkeepsie, New York 12603. There will be a Memorial service starting at 6:30pm with Military Honors. The family would like Memorial Donations to be made to The Wounded Warriors. If you would like to leave an online condolence please visit www.doylefuneralhome.com