Obituary of Barbara Horne

BARBARA HORNE Barbara Horne died at University Hospital in London on December 5, 2012 in her 93rd year. The daughter of Richard and Ethel Balfour of London, Barbara was born on February 25, 1920. Barbara married William Horne in 1953 and they were very happily married until his untimely death in 1976. Mary Isabelle Balfour, her sister, survives her; her brothers James Grant Balfour and Richard Colgan Balfour died before her. Barbara is also survived by her nieces and nephews Barbara, Ian, Mary Elizabeth and Richard Balfour, Joan Harman, John, Paul and Ross Horne and Marilyn Marshall and spouses and children of several of them. Barbara graduated in 1940 from the University of Western Ontario, where she studied Secretarial Sciences, and then she worked in London for Isard, Robertson, investment dealers. After meeting and marrying Bill in London, they resettled in Toronto. Benefitting from Bill's expert instruction, she became an avid and skilled curler and maintained an enthusiasm for the sport for the rest of her life. Following Bill's death, Barbara returned to London and lived very happily with Mary, first in the University Towers apartments, then in a Fiddlers Green townhouse and finally in both Longworth Retirement Residence and Long Term Care. Together, Barbara and Mary travelled extensively - including most memorably in Great Britain, China and Greece - and continued to enjoy summers at the Balfour family cottage at Maple Grove near Grand Bend, where they stayed from their first years. In her years at Longworth, the staff there and from Helping Hands were caring and kindly attentive every day. Her friends Corinne Geddes, Linda Darowski and Charlotte Knowles were especially devoted to Barbara and indispensable to her well-being. Visitation will be at the John T. Donohue Funeral Home, 362 Waterloo Street, on Monday, December 10 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. A funeral mass will be held at St. George Church, 1164 Commissioners Road West, on Tuesday, December 11 at 11:00 a.m., followed by a reception at the church. The burial will be private. In memory of Barbara, donations may be made to a charity of the donor's choice.