Seminary Journal 2008 (August) - Virginia Theological Seminary

I met Martha Horne in front of Aspinwall
Hall in September of 1980. Cally
Irish, now the Right Reverend Carolyn
Tanner Irish, the Bishop of Utah,
introduced us. As we were talking,
somehow the fact that I was a native
of Mississippi came up, and Martha
allowed that her husband’s family
was from Mississippi also. Turns out
that Don Horne’s grandparents were
from Winona, my hometown. In fact,
Mr. and Mrs. Horne were the patriarch
and matriarch of the Winona Presbyterian
Church. My family sat in front
of them every Sunday. So I knew the
original McDonald Kelso Horne for
whom Don was named. I have no idea
what Mrs. Horne’s fi rst name was as I
never heard anyone call her anything
but Mrs. Horne. That was small town
Mississippi in the 1940’s.
Martha, Cally, and I spent many
lunches at Ramparts discussing faculty
here at VTS (that includes some
of you here this evening), our bosses,
our families, the Church, and our
roles in the Church. We went to the
beach every spring, to New York City,
and a summer in Oxford together.
These two women are my mainstays;
I depend on them.
Don also assisted me along the way. I
was in Little Rock as guest speaker at
the Diocesan Convention and decided
to make an addition to my talk early
one morning. Wanting to use a quote
from Hamlet and also wanting it to
be correct, not paraphrased, I needed
help. This was before the days of
Friends
The Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon
Retired Bishop Suffragan of Washington
traveling with a laptop. Verna Dozier
and my husband were away from
Washington, so I called Martha. This
was about 7 a.m. Martha, too, was
traveling. Don answered my call and
I enlisted his help. Sure enough, he
looked up the play, called me back,
and did not tell me not to do it again.
Martha and Don are loyal, faithful
friends to Dixie and me and our family.
They are there in good times and
in bad, for weddings (in fact, our
son David asked Martha to offi ciate
at his marriage), in sickness and in
health.
There is a facet of Martha’s life that
I do not believe either Dean Reid or
Bishop Lee knows about. A few years
ago, Tina Turner was making a fi nal
appearance at the Nissan Pavilion here
in Virginia. My sister-in-law, a cardiovascular
surgeon and a colleague
of Don’s at the NIH, was setting up a
group to go see Tina. I was delighted
to be invited and mentioned this to the
Dean. She, too, was pleased to join the
party. When the limousine that we had
hired arrived to pick up Martha and
me, the group included a cardiovascular
surgeon, a cardiologist, two NASA
space engineers, the lead veterinarian
at the NIH, and a senior administrator
there. As the two Episcopal
clergy women slipped into the stretch
limousine, Tina tapes blaring and
neon lights circling the roof, Martha
allowed that the only such vehicles the
two of us were used to riding in were
from the church to the cemetery.
The concert kept us on our feet the
entire evening, and the Dean knew the
word to every song. She informed me
that she had been a fan since it was the
Ike and Tina Turner Revue and that I
was a rather new fan of Tina’s. It was
a sellout crowd. I asked Martha how
many people she thought were there.
“I don’t know, but more than were
in the Virginia Seminary chapel this
morning.”
Like Bishop Lee, I too am narcissistic
about serving on the Nominating
Committee that presented Martha’s
name to the Board of Trustees for the
offi ce of Dean and President. She took
the fi rm foundation left by Dean Reid
and took this seminary to new heights.
Dean Reid always said she was his
most brilliant Greek scholar. Martha
is indeed brilliant, a scholar, a leader,
and administrator. The growth and
diversity of the faculty is remarkable.
The curriculum is preparing the students
for preaching the gospel in the
21 st century. Her fi nancial acumen is
notable and she is a just, compassionate,
and decisive leader. And she represents
VTS on boards, in theological
societies, and throughout the Church.
As a member of the Board of Trustees,
when she preached at the morning
Eucharist at General Convention this
past summer, she made me proud. The
next morning our Presiding Bishopelect
preached and as a woman, my
heart sang at the witness of these two
extraordinary human beings.
Finally, Martha and Don Horne have
24 VIRGINIA SEMINARY JOURNAL AUGUST 2007