John Ryder Horton

John Ryder Horton, 86
     SOLOMONS, Md. -- John R. Horton, 86, a former senior executive of the Central Intelligence Agency and author of three espionage novels and a war memoir, died of cancer Sunday, June 3, 2007, at Solomons, Md.
     John Ryder Horton was born Nov. 14, 1920, and raised on the north shore of Chicago, graduated from Evanston Township High School and attended Indiana University in Bloomington before enlisting in the Navy in 1940. He was stationed in the Philippines as an ensign when the Japanese attacked in December 1941. Mr. Horton went from the Philippines to Java, then Australia, before going to China for two years where he served with Chinese guerrilla troops, briefly served in underwater demolitions and was a Lieutenant Commander USNR when the war ended. His military decorations include the Bronze Star with Combat V and the Order of the Cloud Banner (China).
     In 1994, Mr. Horton published an account of his wartime experiences, Ninety-Day Wonder: Flight to Guerilla War.
     Despite not having a bachelor's degree, Mr. Horton pursued graduate studies at the University of Chicago, studying under Hans Morgenthau and earning a master's in international relations. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1948 as an operations officer, serving in Washington, the Philippines and Japan, and then as chief of station in Hong Kong, Uruguay, and Mexico.
     In the early 1970s, he was chief of the Western Hemisphere division, and retired as chief of the Soviet Bloc division, covering the Soviet Union and the former Warsaw Pact nations. On retirement, he received the CIA's highest honor, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.
     His primary activities after retirement were to build a house and establish a vineyard on land beside the Patuxent River in southern Maryland. However, in 1983 he was asked to returned to the CIA as the National Intelligence Officer for Central and Latin America, resigning that post in 1984. After retirement he published three espionage novels and his war memoir, completed his house, built a sailboat by hand; made and bottled wine from his vineyard, started a tree farm, and became deeply involved in environmental conservation and social causes in southern Maryland. Notably, he was instrumental in arranging for 2000 acres on St. Mary's River in Maryland to be set aside for conservation.
     He was president of the southern Maryland Audubon chapter and received a Sierra Club award for environmental action. He was an active volunteer for a Maryland homeless shelter. Most recently, St. Mary's College honored Mr. Horton by naming its community courses program for him.
     For the past 15 years, Mr. Horton and his wife, Grace, have summered on Chebeague Island. They spent many hours chronicling the island's wildlife through watercolors and journals, and had an abiding respect for the island's year-round community.
     Mr. Horton is survived by his wife of 60 years, Grace Calhoun Horton; his son, Andrew Marcus Horton and his wife Peggy McGehee of Falmouth; his daughter, Mary Horton Welch and her husband Timothy Welch of Washington, D.C.; his son, David Ryder Horton of Burlington, Vt.; and his daughter, Jane Byrne Horton of Atlanta, Ga.; his sister, Jane Cabanyes de Horton of Madrid, Spain; and seven grandchildren, Rachel, Joanna, Laura and Jack Horton, and Grace, Sam, and Katie Welsh.
     A memorial service will be held at 12 p.m., Saturday, June 16, at Middleham Chapel, Lusby, Md.
    In lieu of flowers, donations
    may be made to;
     Calvert Hospice
    P.O. Box 838
     Prince Frederick, Maryland 20678