A wonderful life: Love, laughter and faith define 103-year-old Jeffersonville parishioner’s amazing journey
At 103, Tom Horn has always kept moving, except when it comes to his place of worship. He has been a member of St. Augustine Parish in Jeffersonville all his life. He poses in the parish church on Father’s Day of this year with Father Douglas Marcotte, administrator of St. Augustine Parish, and two of his nieces, Sharon Horn, left, and Jerri Brandenburg. (Submitted photo)
By John Shaughnessy
Everyone wants to know his secret.
They want to know how Tom Horn was able to play golf into his 90s.
They want to know how he was able to travel to Ireland when he was 102.
And they want to know how he’s still able to drive, live in his own home, cook for himself and even do a little gambling at the nearby riverboat casino at 103.
Horn gives a hint into the secret of his long, full life when he shares the usual choice he faces when he wakes up each day.
“Sometimes I talk to myself to see if I’m going to get up. Then I make myself get up and go to Mass every morning. You have to keep moving.”
Keep moving. It’s great and ironic advice from a man who still lives in the same house that he and his wife bought 68 years ago, a man who has been a member of St. Augustine Parish in Jeffersonville for all 103 years of his life.
“I was born on Jan. 22, 1912, and I’ve been a member of St. Augustine ever since,” he says. “I was baptized there, made my first Communion and confirmation there, went to school there, was an altar boy there, and married my wife in the rectory.”
The former parish council president and head of the ushers also still volunteers at St. Augustine, driving his 1998 black Ford Escort over to the church to help set the tables and serve coffee during funeral luncheons.
“The great thing about Tom is that you see in him that Christian joy we’re always talking about in terms of evangelization,” says Father Douglas Marcotte, the 30-year-old administrator of St. Augustine and Most Sacred Heart of Jesus parishes, both in Jeffersonville. “He’s very faithful in coming to Mass, and he’s always very pleasant, very kind, very joyful.”
He also has an amazing positive attitude when he talks about the highlights and even the tragedies in his life.
A wonderful life
Consider his reaction to his first-ever trip to Ireland last year, a journey that included a better-late-than-never visit to his grandparents’ former home and church.
“I’ve done a lot of traveling, but that’s the best trip I’ve ever had,” he says. “I went with my niece and nephew. We rented a van and just took off on our own. The people were so friendly. We stopped for directions at one house and the lady gave us directions and invited us in for coffee.”
The joy in his voice continues as he shares a story from when he and his four brothers served in World War II together.
“Three of us were in Normandy at the same time, but we didn’t know it. I saw one soldier walking by and I called out to him because he looked familiar. It was one of my brothers. Fortunately, we all came home safely.”
His enthusiasm reaches its highest level when he talks about his wife.
“We met at a little ice cream place where the young people hung out at the time. We sat and talked for a while. Then I got up the nerve to ask her out. It developed into a real nice relationship. We were married in 1940 in the church rectory because she was non-Catholic. But she became a devout Catholic.
“Her name was Florence, but everybody called her Jolly. That was her last name. And boy, she was a jolly person. She loved people. We would go to nursing homes with some of the ladies from the church, and put on programs and shows to entertain the people. We headed up all the parish activities, including the festivals.”
He’s known heartbreak in his life, too. The couple lost their only child—a girl—shortly after her birth.
“We named her Jolly Ann. My wife never had a chance to see our daughter. She was in serious condition right after childbirth.
“We were married 62 years before she passed away in 2002. We were able to do a lot of things together. We just had a wonderful life. She died of Alzheimer’s. She had it for six years. She was in good shape until the last six months. She didn’t know me. It was very hard. My faith was very helpful during that time.”
Love and laughter
The importance of his faith in his life also surfaces when he talks about how he and his wife made it financially possible for several students through the years to attend the schools at St. Augustine and St. Anthony of Padua in Clarksville.
The depth of his love is also revealed when he talks about his relationship with his niece, Jerri Brandenburg. Shortly after Horn’s baby daughter died, so did Jerri’s father when she was 9. Since then, their lives have been deeply intertwined.
“I consider her my daughter,” Horn says.
“It’s been a love story of a father and a daughter,” says Brandenburg, who grew up in Jeffersonville and lives in Texas. “He gave me away when I was married. Our kids call him ‘Grandpa.’ They’ve been with us through every event you can imagine—my children’s graduations and marriages. He comes down to our home every Christmas, and I try to come up at least three times a year. I have my own room up here, and he has a room down there.”
Ever since her husband died in 2002, Brandenburg has traveled to Jeffersonville to be with Horn on Father’s Day.
They both laugh when they recall the reaction that Horn received when he needed an operation in the hospital two years ago.
“A nurse came in, looked at my chart, looked at me, and she went out,” says Horn, who worked as a federal government employee. “She went and got another nurse. And then they went out and got another nurse. Before long, all the nurses were in there.”
The nurses couldn’t believe that Horn was as old as his chart noted because he looked much younger.
“We were almost going to sell tickets,” Brandenburg says with a laugh. “You wouldn’t think he’s 103. I think more than anything it’s his tenacity. He’s very active and has been his whole life. And he’s always had a positive attitude. He takes life in stride. I’ve never heard him complain or say anything ugly about people. He just greets people like this is the best day he’s ever had. He just has this determination to live his life the best he can.”
The secret to a good life revealed
That life includes reading two or three books a week, cooking a roast and potatoes in a crockpot for dinner, and usually boarding a bus for senior citizens on Wednesdays for the riverboat casino in New Albany.
Horn also attends most of the home games of the Jeffersonville High School boys’ basketball team, a longtime connection that dates back to when he played varsity basketball for the school in 1931.
As always, there is his continuing 103-year bond to St. Augustine Parish. After attending Mass as much as he can, he often heads to breakfast with some of his fellow worshippers.
“I really enjoy the children’s Mass on Fridays during the school year,” he says. “I love the questions the kids ask. Father Marcotte asked one boy, ‘Would you like to go to heaven?’ The boy said, ‘No.’ Father said, ‘You don’t want to go to heaven?’ The boy said, ‘Yeah, but not right now.’ ”
Horn laughs. A kindred spirit with the boy, he’s preparing for the next life, but he’s still enjoying this one.
“People ask me, ‘What do I eat? What do I do?’ I don’t see anything unusual about my life. I just take it day by day. Stay active. Get involved. That’s what I do.
“I’ve had good health, good friends and a good Church. Put that together with a wonderful married life, and it’s taken care of me.” †
