Clara Ann Horne

Clara Ann Horne, 89, passed away in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 5, 2026.

She was born in Formoso, Kansas, on November 19, 1936, to Ralph O. and Zelma E. (Truitt) Johnson. Together with elder siblings John and Pauline and younger brother Wayne, she spent her childhood on the family farm.

She attended the University of Kansas at Lawrence, where she met and, on January 31, 1959, married her husband of 62 years, Frederick H. Horne. Their son, Frederick John, was born in 1963 when she and her husband Fred were living in Palo Alto, California, while Fred (the elder) completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. They subsequently moved to East Lansing, Michigan, where two more children, James Herbert (1964) and Nancy Carolyn (1967), were born. East Lansing and Okemos, Michigan, were home for the next 23 years.

While in Michigan, Clara Ann began at Michigan State University what would become a more than 40‑year career advising college students. After her husband Fred accepted a post as Dean of Science at Oregon State University in 1986, Clara Ann moved to Oregon and continued her advising career at Oregon State University’s College of Business, serving as Head Advisor, among other roles. Although she “retired” in 2003, she continued to advise students and manage student services on a part-time basis until fully retiring at 81.

During their time at Oregon State, Clara Ann and her husband worked tirelessly to enhance the quality of science education at the University through both the College of Science and the Oregon State University Foundation. They were particularly honored when friends and faculty created the Clara Ann and Fred Horne Women in Science Scholarship, which is awarded to outstanding sophomore or junior women in the College of Science.

Clara Ann loved the Pacific Northwest and particularly the Oregon Coast. During their early years in Oregon, she was renowned among family and visiting friends for spotting whales in the distance that no one else could see. They were there; her eyesight was just better.  She maintained many close, life-long friendships and highly valued the time spent with friends who live in England, traveling companions later in life, and Fred’s former Chemistry graduate students and spouses, who remained a source of happiness and support throughout her life. 

She was dedicated to her family and was especially devoted to and proud of her six grandchildren. Clara Ann took delight in the intellectual curiosity and academic accomplishments of her grandchildren.  She was enormously pleased to be able to attend the first marriage among her grandchildren in Maine in September 2025.

Clara Ann is survived by son Frederick John Horne and wife Francoise Carrier, daughter Nancy Horne, daughter‑in‑law Katherine Horne, grandchildren Danielle (husband Sam Kenney) and Fred David Horne, Ashley and Angela Watts, and Alex and Tamsin Horne, sisters‑in‑law Carolyn Horne, Patricia Johnson, and Virginia Johnson, and numerous nieces, nephews, grand‑nieces and nephews, and great-grand-nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by husband Frederick H. Horne and son James H. Horne.

Please feel free to share memories of Clara Ann at https://www.everettfuneral.com/obituary/Clara-Horne. 

The family suggests that those wishing to make a gift in remembrance of Clara Ann consider a contribution to the Clara Ann & Fred Horne Women in Science Scholarship Endowment at Oregon State University.  Donations may be made online at https://fororegonstate.org/ by selecting “Make a Gift” and then typing the name of the scholarship into the “designation” portion of the form.  Donations may also be mailed to the OSU Foundation, 4238 SW Research Way, Corvallis, OR 97333.  Please note in the “comment” section of the form or the memorandum line of the check that the gift is in memory of Clara Ann Horne.