Virginia Horner

Virginia Mae Horner, 88, of South Sioux City, former Sioux City resident, died Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016, at a Sioux City hospital.
Services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, with the Rev. Dan Rupp officiating. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today, with the family present from 6 to 8 p.m. and a parish vigil service at 7 p.m., at Larkin Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home.
Virginia was born on Sept. 7, 1927, on a farm near Bellwood, Neb., the daughter of Thelma (Ebel) and Frank Kerr. She graduated from St. Bonaventure High School in Columbus, Neb., in 1945. Virginia was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. She won first prize in an American Legion state essay contest. She graduated from Grand Island (Neb.) Business School and worked at Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, where she met her future husband.
On Nov. 8, 1947, she married Dean Horner in Columbus, Neb. The family lived in several towns in Nebraska while Dean worked for the Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. They moved to Sioux City in 1961. Dean died Sept. 6, 2012.
Virginia was a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church for 54 years and had been a former member of the Altar Society. She had a strong devotion for the Blessed Virgin, praying the rosary daily. She was a member of the Telephone Pioneers. Virginia started the local chapter of The Compassionate Friends in 1972, after the death of their 14-year-old daughter. She also enjoyed attending her children's and grandchildren's sporting and school events. She was a loving mother who taught her children Christian values and kindness. Virginia was an avid reader, an excellent seamstress, and her grandchildren considered her "the research lady," because of her uncanny ability to find information. She enjoyed genealogy and writing letters. She was an organ donor. People will remember Virginia as a strong woman who always put others before herself and was an inspiration to others to do the same.
She will be lovingly remembered by her daughters and their husbands, Mary Jean and Ron Lewis of Lee's Summit, Mo., and Carolyn and Doug Dykstra of Rogers, Ark.; her sons and their wives, Steve and Caron Horner of Westminster, Colo., and Mike and Claudia Horner of South Sioux City; 11 grandchildren, Shelley (Hidemasa) Takuwa, Kelliann (Dane) Dermody, Cindy (Paul) Hansen, Stephanie, Matthew and Michael Horner, Grace Horner, Olivia (Alex) Walker, Madeline (Levi) Lambing, George and John Horner; five great-grandchildren; a sister and her husband, Kathy and Clarence Scholl of Plattsmouth, Neb.; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 65 years; a daughter, Barbara; her parents; her sister, Patricia Thiele; and brothers Frank Kerr Jr. and Gene Kerr.
We would like to thank the staff at Regency Care Center and Mercy Medical Center for all their care.