Paul Horn

Paul Conrad Horn, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in Cape Girardeau.

He was born Dec. 26, 1939, in East Chicago, Indiana, to John Conrad and Julia Louise Beckett Horn. Orphaned at 12, he and his late brother, Peter Horn, were raised by their aunt, Alma Beckett Booher, and her husband, Lance Booher, in Aurora, Indiana.

As teens, the brothers went on incredible summer boat trips by themselves, taking off down the Ohio River. For weeks at a time, they traveled down the waterway systems hunting, fishing and camping on riverbanks and islands in "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn"-style adventures. When they heard about water skiing as a sport, they grabbed an old door and started skiing in the Ohio with their friends.

Paul attended Indiana University for college and medical school.

After graduation, he married Barbara Brice on Jan. 8, 1966, in Lakeland, Florida, and then served in the U.S. Navy as medical officer for a fleet of destroyers, reaching the rank of lieutenant.

Beginning his Cape Girardeau medical practice in 1970 in partnership with the late Dr. Tom Lovingood, he served as a pathologist initially at both Southeast and the old Saint Francis hospitals before moving solely to the new Saint Francis as lab director for several decades, until his retirement in 2008. Dr. William Stahr joined him at Saint Francis as his partner.

A big believer in making things happen if you want something, as well as a "doer" and a bit of a mechanical savant, he built a 14-foot fiberglass motorboat from scratch at 14 and crafted an original hot rod from junkyard scraps in his late teens. He could carve and do fine woodwork, metal work, plumbing and electrical work. While practicing medicine in Cape Girardeau, he used this gift for "hands-on" doing to build a family real estate business. Initially, he bought apartments and houses, gutting and repairing them himself with wife Barbara’s interior design and ongoing management skills carrying the residential (and later commercial) property management business forward for more than 45 years before passing it on to the next generation.

A vastly practical man, he combined his passion for his Catholic faith with his firm belief in ensuring the financial security and long-term stability of Catholic health care, education and ministry with his support for the Notre Dame Foundation, Saint Francis Foundation, both St. Vincent de Paul and St. Mary’s schools and parishes, Catholic Campus Ministry, Catholic Young Adult Ministry and Life House locally and many Catholic seminaries and convents nationally. When one of these causes needed something specific that he could provide, he didn’t hesitate to roll up his sleeves and help doing such things as sanding and epoxying an entire school’s desks over a summer with some of the other parishioners.

Paul remained a lifelong outdoorsman, living for quail hunting in the fall, water skiing in the summer (with a real slalom ski instead of a door) and year-round long power walks outside.

This amazing man will be greatly missed by family and friends alike.

He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers and two sisters.

Survivors include his wife, Barbara, and daughter, Jennifer Horn.

Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home.

The Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 4, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 1913 Ritter Drive in Cape Girardeau, with the Rev. Allan Saunders as celebrant. Burial will be at Cape County Memorial Park Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Saint Francis Foundation, 211 Saint Francis Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO 63703.

Online condolences may be made at www.fordandsonsfuneralhome.com.