Glenn Horner

L. Glenn Horner, Jr. died on March 19, 2025, at the age of 91. He was born in 1933, in Centerville, Tennessee, to L. Glenn Horner, the postmaster, and Lucile Thompson Horner, a schoolteacher.

Glenn was six when his brother, Bill, was born. That same year, he took his first airplane ride in a cabin Waco biplane at the Graham CAA emergency field near Vernon, Tennessee. That flight made a lasting impression. As a boy, Glenn built many model airplanes and dreamed constantly of flying.

His first job was working Saturdays in the store of his great-uncle Eck Thompson near Centerville square. Beginning at age thirteen and continuing for three summers, he worked six weeks each year on the farm of his great-uncle Bob Lewis near Gracey, Kentucky, making $1 per day the first two years and $2.50 per day the third. Later summer jobs included driving a Gulf gas truck to deliver fuel to stations and farms and serving as a temporary substitute letter carrier for the U.S. Post Office in Centerville.

Glenn honorably served three years in the U.S. Army as an aircraft and helicopter mechanic, working primarily on H-13s and on L-19 and L-20 fixed-wing aircraft. While attending helicopter repairman school at Fort Eustis, Virginia, he soloed in an Aeronca Champ on August 23, 1955. He was discharged from the Army in 1958 and, after returning home from Korea and a brief period of service at Fort Polk, LA, earned his private pilot license while working as a structural steel draftsman at the Nashville Bridge Company.

In 1961, Glenn graduated from the University of Tennessee, where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. After graduation, he began working at Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) in Tullahoma, Tennessee, as a test and installation engineer testing liquid-fueled rocket engines, including all of those used in the Apollo program that went to the moon.

That same year, he married his hometown sweetheart, Anne Wallace Bates, beginning a lifelong partnership that would span more than 63 years. Together, they raised two children, Catherine and Jim.

In 1971, Glenn moved his family to Kingston in East Tennessee and began working as a vacuum systems expert at the K-25 complex in Oak Ridge, in the Gas Centrifuge program focused on enriching uranium for nuclear power. Later, he served as a project manager on multiple programs for the U.S. military. He continued his involvement in aviation by founding one flying club and serving as president of another.

Glenn retired from Lockheed Martin in September 1994. In retirement, he and Anne devoted much of their time to volunteer accounting work for their church, Kingston United Methodist. They also enjoyed visiting friends and family and hosting their grandchildren each summer at their home in Kingston. Together, they spent at least one night in all fifty states, as well as in Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

Glenn held a commercial pilot license with ratings for airplane single and multiengine land and sea, instrument airplane, rotorcraft helicopter, glider, and a DC-3 type rating. He also held a flight instructor license in each of the categories except for the DC-3. Over the years, he served as president of multiple flying clubs, taught dozens of people to fly, including his daughter, Catherine, and his son Jim, and operated a Bellanca airplane dealership.

Glenn is predeceased by his parents. He is survived by his wife of 63 1/2 years, Anne; children, Catherine Pankow (Brian) and Jim Horner (Rita); grandchildren, Carolyn Pankow, Bradley Pankow (Kristine) expecting his first great grandchild, and Shawn Horner (fiancée Jessica Klein); brother, Bill (Carolyn); brothers-in-law Douglas Bates (Molly) and Quin Bishop; numerous nieces, nephews, and extended family members.

Glenn will be interred at Bethel Presbyterian Church Memorial Garden in Kingston, Tennessee. A celebration of Glenn's life will be held at Asbury Chapel, 1717 Eureka Road, in Rockwood, TN, on Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 3:00p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Glenn's memory to your favorite charity. Arrangements by Cremation Options, Inc. (865)6WE-CARE (693-2273) www.cremationoptionsinc.com.