Page 117 - PGM Compendium

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Of
M⸫W⸫ Bill P. Horn

1972-1973

Most Worshipful Brother Bill P. Horn was born on January 26,
1913, near Brookville, Indiana, where he spent his formative
years. He was educated in the Public Schools in Brookville, and
studied Architectural Engineering at the University of Illinois.
He was proud to be a Hoosier, and somewhere along the line
he developed a love for the game of baseball that stayed with
him all of his life. He was drafted into the St. Louis Cardinals
baseball organization where he gained a reputation as a long
ball hitter. His baseball career being just one of many chapters
in his life, he would spend several years on construction
projects and in working on farms and ranches of the Midwest
on his way to the Puget Sound where he would make his home.

After establishing residence in Tacoma in 1939, he was employed by the DuPont Powder Company
until the beginning of World War II, during which time he served with the United States Marine
Corps with pride and distinction with Company C of the First Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment
in the South Pacific theatre of operations. A recipient the Purple Heart, among other military
distinctions, his pride in service was evident as he often reminded his friends that "there is no such
thing as an ex-Marine".

th
He was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946, and, on March 26 of that year, he and Mildred
F. Eaken were married at the Chapel of the University of Puget Sound, Mildred's alma mater. Mrs.
Horn was well known as a teacher of the hard-of-hearing in the Tacoma Public School system. As
a dedicated teacher of these children, she spent a great deal of time furthering her knowledge of
new and better ways of teaching and communicating with these children.
Professionally, our brother was employed as the Chief Building Inspector of Pierce County, and
responsible for the enforcement of building, plumbing and zoning code regulations. Not one to be
content with a mere 8:00 to 5:00 involvement, he became active in the Associations for Building
Officials, serving as president of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Northwest Regional Chapter and
on the Council of American Building Officials. He was dedicated to his work on the International
Conference of Building Officials Code Changes Committee where he had a special interest in
codes that recognized the unique requirements of the handicapped. He served the International
Conference as Chairman of the Mechanical Sub-Committee; and for some years as the elected
member of the International Executive Board. He also served as president of the Washington State
Association of Building Officials.

It was said that Bill Horn was not easily impressed, but in Freemasonry he saw values that he
viewed as important. He petitioned Fairweather Lodge No. 82 of Tacoma and was initiated March