Page 113 - 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".

He was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946, and, on March 26 of that year, he and Mildred F.
th
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 23, 1943; passed

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