Douglas Horton Obituary

Douglas James George Horton, 58, died Saturday, July 5, 2008, at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson. Visitation is 10 am today in St. Francis Hall at St. Andrews Episcopal Cathedral in Jackson. The memorial service will be held in St. Andrew's Cathedral at 11 am today. Interment will follow in Conehatta Cemetery in Newton County. Ott & Lee Funeral Home of Brandon is handling arrangements.
Douglas is survived by two sisters, Dianne Horton Wood (husband, Dr. Al Wood), of Franklin, TN and Denise Horton Johnson (husband, Burl Johnson) of Union, MS; two nieces, Breeon Phillips (husband, Duncan Phillips) of Franklin, TN and Anna Johnson of Union, MS; three nephews, Dylan Wood of Franklin, TN, Michael Johnson (wife, Christine Johnson) of Grenada, MS and Daniel Johnson of Union, MS. Other survivors include two great nieces Taylor Phillips and Madison Phillips: a great nephew, Jackson Phillips; aunts, Virginia Carmichael of Meridian, MS and Asheville, North Carolina and Sara O'Kelley of Nashville, TN.
Douglas was preceded in death by his beloved nephew, David McKendree Johnson.
Memorials may be sent to David Johnson Scholarship Fund, Regions Bank, 405 Bank St. Union, MS 39365 or Catholic Charities, 200 North Congress Street, Jackson, MS 39201.
The family wishes to thank the "wonderful" nurses on 5-D Oncology Unit at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center. They also want to express thanks and gratitude to Douglas' special coworkers in Information Technology, especially Becky Carruth. These coworkers were Douglas' "hospital family." Douglas had many friends at Baptist who were faithful visitors during his recent illness. Thanks to them all.

Published by Clarion Ledger from Jul. 8 to Jul. 9, 2008.

Memories and Condolences
for Douglas Horton

13 Entries

Gerald Berry

July 18, 2008

Doug was a good friend in the early '70s at Mississippi State University, but I have not seen him in many years. I am so sorry to hear of his death. Gerald Berry [email protected]

Kathy Barrett Hamil

July 15, 2008

I was very sorry to learn of of the death of Douglas. I have very fond memories of our high school days together and then our continuing friendship at Mississippi State. A special memory is when one of my very favorite teachers, Mrs. Lillan Horton, hosted a party for us about a year after graduation from DHS. She made the most delicious chile for us and I have always wanted the recipe.

Diane and Denise, my prayers are with you. I know there is a wonderful reunion in heaven. My heart is warmed by thoughts of Douglas, your mother and your dad.

Joanne Clarke

July 15, 2008

Part III:

Doug and I continued to be friends at MSU and the card games continued in the Student Union. We also met for meals sometimes. One year he went with me and some other friends camping in the Ozarks during spring break. It was beautiful that year - green as Ireland. One night it rained so hard that the tent came down on us. I remember Doug being so proud of a nightstand he had bought and antiqued. The last time I saw Doug was 15 years or so ago, when he made me late for my niece's wedding. She was getting married in Conehatta and Doug was there that weekend visiting his mother. We just meant to drop in, make plans to meet later, and go back to the church. But Doug and his mother had iced tea and cake waiting and it took us an hour to get away. We stayed in email contact after that, occasionally talking on the phone. When my mother was having double bypass surgery in Meridian, Doug called the hospital and had me paged to see how she was doing.
Denise, he always talked about you. I think because you were the "little" sister and you lived closer. He wrote about Dianne and her children too. But I know he was really heartbroken when David died, and I hurt for all of you.
Yesterday was Bastille Day and I missed my "Happy Bastille Day!" message from Doug! I kept wanting to send him an email.
I last talked to Doug a few months ago when another friend said I should call him. I did, but he made an excuse to get off the phone right away. I emailed asking for updates on his health, but he didn't answer. That had happened before, I didn't ask myself what it meant.
I will miss Doug. I do miss him. I hope he and Lee are in heaven, teaching St. Peter how to play bridge.

Arlies Savell King

July 14, 2008

Denise, I am so sorry to hear about Douglas. I never really knew him, but loved to hear your Mom tell about him and what he was doing. Times are tough these days, I know, but remember God holds you and yours in His Hand and loves you more than you can imagine. I will be thinking and praying for you and your family.

Joanne Clarke

July 13, 2008

Part II:

By the way, it appears to be impossible to edit a submission. So please excuse my spelling and typing errors.

Doug and I both hated that Lee was graduating in 1969 and would be leaving us. We'd had such fun together. When I saw Lee at his graduation, we exchanged addresses, but I didn't really expect to hear from him again. I was quite crazy about Lee by that time, but was admitting it to no one, least of all myself.
Late in the summer, I heard from Lee. Doug was trying to arrange a picnic-birthday party for Lee. We were all to meet at Nanih Wayia on August 7. Lee didn't have transportation, so Doug picked him up and brought him. By the end of the day, Lee had told me he loved me. A week or so later, ,I accepted his proposal.
This was the VietNam era and Lee was no longer in school and his birthday received a #6 in the lottery. So Lee joined with promises of Officer Training School.

While he waited to be called up, Lee remained at ECJC and we enjoyed our jokes and cards in the Wesley room. Then Lee was called up and left on Dec 1 for Basic Training. He got a furlough for Christmas and when he got home he asked me to marry him right away. I agreed and planned a wedding in 3 days. Lee and I were married at my church on Christmas Eve 1969. Lee was there. He was the only person on Lee's side of the church besides his immediate family. Afterwards, he took picutres for us. The picutres were good and the only ones I've ever had.
Lee went back to Basic Training on Dec 30 and on Jan 24th he died. I've never been told the truth about Lee's death, but Doug and I were both devestated. In some ways, I don't think Doug ever completely got over that early loss any more than I did. We tried to comfort each other, cried on each other's shoulders. Doug was a good, good friend to me at that awful time.

Joanne Clarke

July 13, 2008

Such a small space for so much to say. I think I'll do this is parts. I wrote a huge entry yesterday, just to have it lost when I tried to edit it.

Part 1.
I met Doug in the fall on 1968, 40 years ago. It was my second night at East Central Junior College and my friend Marylin and I were standing in a reception line to meet the faculty. I became interested in voices I heard behind us, and sought out and met Douglas Horton and Lee Clarke. We hit if off immediately. Once we had gone through the receiving line, we took our punch and cookies and found a table in the adjoining cafeteria. There were a lot of students there for a while, but they faded away until only the four of us remained. Finally, when the cleaning staff had cleaned up after the reception and wanted to lock up for the night, they ran us out. We had become fast friends by that time.
It was probably Doug who told us about the Wesley Methodist Student Center which had a few rooms above the Student Union. I hope the Methodist didn't mind too much, be we made one of the rooms ours. From mid morning to curfew time, there would be a card game underway in the Wesley room. People would stop in for a few rounds, then drop out again to go to class. Someone else would stop by and take their place.
I'm not sure if Doug or Lee introduced Bridge, but I loved the game immediately. After that, the game underway was often Bridge. But when there were more people around, the game might be gin or rummy. There was a lot of laughing and joking up there, for Lee and Doug always were joking. We had many other friends who came and went - Verdo Wright, whose father was president of the college was a regular.

Stewart Lollar

July 12, 2008

I met Doug at Mississippi State. He was always a good friend. So glad for email and phone keeping us from losing touch. His sense of humor brightened many a dark day. Thanks for so much, Doug.

Larry L. Morgan

July 9, 2008

I knew Doug for over 20 years. There were times when he would come over for a weekly visit, but we had not seen much of each other lately.

I remember him driving me to a funeral and being there for me in a very difficult time. I remember us talking about computers and music. I remember us going out to eat, usually at Cracker Barrel. I remember the funny emails that he would send.

In an email, he had told me that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma and that it was very treatable. I had emailed him a couple of times recently to ask how he was doing but I didn't get a response. I guess that I was so busy with work that more time had passed than I had realized.

Doug will be missed.

Kim Peckham

July 9, 2008

I never really knew Douglas; but Lillian was a dear friend of ours. Please know that we are thinking of you and your loss during this time. The Peckhams

Barbara-Jo Savell

July 9, 2008

I remember Douglas from Decatur Attendance Center. The Horton children came to school with us when Conehatta consolidated with Decatur. I am so very sorry to learn of his death. I am extremely glad to know he did so well in life. I had not seen Douglas in many, many years but he had,and always will have, a place in my heart.

Robert Bliss

July 8, 2008

I have known Doug for almost 30 years – all of my adult life. We met while I was a student at Mississippi State, and he was a mutual friend of Mike Foster, who I was sharing a house with at the time. During those days in Starkville, Doug would come over to the house nearly every day. Sometimes we would go out to the Burger Chef in Starkville so he could grab a cup of coffee before going on the night shift at the computing center. One time, we decided to take weightlifting from one of the professors at MSU, and right after we finished, we ran to the Burger Chef and promptly ordered two chocolate shakes. And in walked the professor right after we sat down …

After I graduated from college and took a job to Florida, I realized how much I missed seeing him so often. My life became a much quieter place after that. We still kept in touch over all those years, and we would see each other whenever I went back to Mississippi. On one trip to Mississippi after I had moved to Houston, my partner was called by our doctor and told to rush to the hospital for some emergency tests. After we got there, Doug suddenly showed up in the emergency room. His being there made all the difference that night.

Doug’s faith was important to him, and his being more than a bit of an “Anglophile” made the Episcopal church a perfect fit for him. In the 1990’s, Doug and I took a trip to Paris together. On a Sunday, Doug decided he wanted to go to church. I don’t know how he found it, but he must have found one of the few Anglican Churches in Paris proper. I didn’t have the least interest in going (I took the train out to Versailles, instead). But when I got back, he went on and on how beautiful the service was. He was truly touched by its beauty. He even made one more trip there before we headed back home.

Doug’s family meant so much to him. I had the pleasure of meeting his mother several times, and she was always such a pleasure. While his parents were still in good health, they made several trips around the US together. On one trip, they came through Houston and visited us. I don’t know how many times Doug talked about those trips. They were so important to him, and he was so fortunate to have that time with them.

As my Grandmother would say, Doug was “raised right.” He was always courteous and thoughtful to people he met. That is not to say he could not be “a bit” crude at times, but always to get a laugh or just get a reaction out of you. His imitations were hilarious. I can still remember the times Doug, Mike Foster, and I would go out to eat or to a movie in Starkville, and Doug would make a joke or do an imitation and Mike would start out saying “Oh, Doug …” And Doug would just laugh (or do an imitation of Mike when he wasn’t looking.) No matter how bad I felt, if I just talked to Doug for a few minutes, I would always feel better.

Mike left us quite a few years ago, and now Doug is gone, too. I feel that a page in my life has been turned, and it will never be the same without him. He will always have a special place in my heart, and I shall cherish his memory for the rest of my life.

Bruce Reeves

July 8, 2008

I met Douglas when I was at Mississippi State. We had a couple of classes together - and I knew I could always get Doug to mount my computer tapes so I could save and restore things rather than have to deal with punched cards (the standard at the time for most students).

After State, we kept in touch through the years - sometimes with visits - and sometimes just with a note or two throughout the year.

I got to see Doug while he was in the hospital about a month ago. Doug, being so Doug, told me (I don't think he believed it) that the cancer was under control and that he would be going home any day.

Douglas - you will be missed and will be in my thoughts anytime I hear a zany joke - or an off-color one - or anytime South Park comes on.

Randy Overstreet

July 8, 2008

Doug,whom I came to know in the early eighties when we worked the 11-7 shift at Baptist, would later sit by each other in choir. He was caring and spent several mornings when I was in hospital after a major surgery on my leg after a fall. Wespoke to each in German and Yiddish, I will miss my fellow Yiddishegoya

I

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