Born in Glasgow, Kentucky, on July 6, 1922, the son of J.O. Horning, Sr. and Leura Kinnaird, Joe graduated from Glasgow High School in 1939 and went to the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville that fall. A member of Triangle fraternity, he met his future wife, Carolyn Lee Motley, over a record player at a sorority rush party. Upon graduating from Speed School in 1943, in quick succession, he joined Goodyear, married Carolyn on Christmas Eve, and was drafted into the U.S. Army. A decorated soldier in the Third Division, he fought in France and Germany and, later, served in the occupation forces in Germany. He came back to the U.S. and Carolyn and Goodyear in 1946.
Three years later, Joe and his family flew to Lima, Peru, where he had been appointed technical superintendent of the Goodyear plant. In 1954 he was transferred to Goodyear in São Paulo, Brazil, and in 1957 became Development Manager for Latin America. In 1962, he returned to Akron as Development Manager for Goodyear in Europe, following as Manufacturing Projects Manager for Europe until retiring in October 1985. For the next 20 years he and his wife entertained friends, kept tabs on children and grandchildren, and traveled in the U.S. and around the world. Joe also enjoyed monthly get-togethers with the Goodyear Retirees Lunch Club.
Joe and Carolyn moved into Rockynol in February 2008, shortly after their 64th wedding anniversary, and Carolyn died that September. Joe is survived by his two sisters, Ann Saxton, of Louisville, Kentucky, and Jerry Casey, of Columbus, Ohio; by his son Ron, and Ron’s wife, Anna West, of Beacon, New York; by his daughter Carol, currently in Kabul, Afghanistan, by his son Robert, of Akron, Ohio, and by his two grandsons, Nick, of Columbus, Ohio, and Simon, now in Vigo, Spain.
The family extends special thanks to everyone who did so much for Joe, most especially Kathe Broughton, Dr. Joseph Payton, the excellent staff at Rockynol, Marlene Rivera of Hospice of VNS, and Rockynol’s chaplain, the Reverend Diane Walker.
