Grace Anne Horton

1917 - 2019

Grace Anne Horton
June 6, 1917 - October 22, 2019
Monterey
Grace lived a full life for 102 years. Born in Lyons, Wisconsin, she was raised in Richmond, California. One of seven children, she is survived by her brother Richard Horton of Lincoln, California. She lived through the desperation and hunger of the Depression, service in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II and a long career as an Occupational Health Nurse.
Grace graduated from St. Mary's College of Nursing in 1940 and entered the Army Nurse Corps in August 1942 as a lieutenant. She served in the European theater in England and France, leaving the Corps in 1949. To her delight Congressman Jimmy Panetta personally awarded to Grace her World War II service medals on her 100th birthday.
She earned a B.S. degree in Nursing at the University of San Francisco in 1950. In 1957, she began her career as an Occupational Health Nurse. She joined McCormick Schilling, the spice company, in April 1961, serving its employees' needs for 20 years in San Francisco and Salinas. After her retirement she worked for the Monterey Chamber of Commerce and the Monterey Peninsula Visitors and Convention Bureau handling convention and meeting registrations. As a volunteer, she served for years at the Cooper-Molera Adobe Museum and was a member of the Monterey Peninsula Professional Women's Club.
Grace had many friends and admirers. Her friends and neighbors looked out for her as she grew older and she was able to live in her Monterey home until she passed away.
She was proud of her saltbox bungalow, bringing it back to life over a decade of work, much of which she did on her own. She was an accomplished artist who sketched and painted landscapes and crafted beautiful greeting cards. She refinished furniture and was a self-termed "frustrated interior decorator".
She was a dedicated exerciser. A few weeks before her sudden passing she completed a trail in Big Sur with only the help of two walking sticks. Recently she was featured in a Monterey Herald article as one of two 100+ years-old participants in the YMCA's weekly Golden Fitness Class.
Her friends and relatives miss her and her indomitable spirit.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated for her at the San Carlos Cathedral on Thursday, November 7 at 9:30 a.m. Her ashes will be interred at the California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery in Seaside at 2:00 that afternoon.
Special remembrances in Grace's name may be sent to the San Carlos Cathedral or the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professionals. No flowers please.


View the online memorial for Grace Anne Horton