Renée Loraine Hornsby

Renée Loraine Hornsby, born September 6th, 1957, departed the world on November 7th, 2025. She is survived by her beloved children; Veronica Loraine Hartmann, and Brent Alexander Hartmann.

Being born in Japan, Renée's first words were Japanese. She spent her adolescence in the Bahamas, early adulthood in Florida, and worked in Missouri and Alaska.

Renée enjoyed adventures of the sea; rescuing trapped crabs in the Bahamas, diving, sailing, and fishing in Florida, Galapagos and Hawaiin excursions, and harvesting seaweed on the beaches of Africa. She might have been a mermaid in another life. Many of you may have shared and remembered seaside memories at her Merritt Island home, or remembered her at AUTEC in Andros.

She went on to become a highly educated and accomplished woman. She taught and passed on her scientific knowledge as a professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University, and at University of Alaska Fairbanks. She lives on through all the students she mentored. After a rewarding career in academia, she earned a Pharm.D and became an accomplished pharmacist, working in several pharmacies across the United States.

Renée enjoyed sharing that knowledge of healthcare and sciences with her friends and family. She was a lifelong teacher and student, who always welcomed learning more about medicine.

Not just a clever scientist, she was also an artist with a talent for painting and an eye for design. Renée took pride in crafting a beautiful, comforting, and stylish home. She didn't just surround herself with beauty; it was how she expressed herself wherever she lived.

She was a worldly woman, who grew up traveling with her air force parents and couldn't stop. She admired and appreciated beauty wherever she went; South Africa, Western Europe, Egypt, and the towering beauty of Alaskan mountains. Wherever she visited, she collected art and memories to add to her home. Her travels and experiences were her brush.

We may also remember her for her wit and charm, her ability to weave a story or make someone laugh with a clever remark, a reassuring reply or an affirmation that felt confident and true, because we knew it came from both wisdom and love.

She was a wonderful mother of two children, who passed on her passion for the arts and sciences. She not only nurtured her children's minds and bodies with knowledge and health, but cultivated their souls by helping them appreciate the wonder of creation.

Renée was a woman of intelligence, strength, beauty, art, science, charisma and love. A joy to share company with, engaging to speak to, and comforting to confide in. A beautiful kaleidoscopic work of art from God; too many facets and too many colors. We didn't have enough time to see them all; she had to return to the ocean in the sky, to rest her mermaid's tale.

A celebration of life will be held in Renée's honor on November 22nd, 2025 12:00pm at Forest Hills Memorial Park. 2001 SW Murphy Rd, Palm City, FL, 34990.

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