Reverend J. E. Kemp Horn was a good man. The Horn family was very proud of him. Kemp did not have any children of his own, but when he retired from the ministry he started a program for children with special needs and through his good works helped many, many children in the Hagerstown area of Maryland. I just loved reading his obituary and the op-ed that the editor of the Morning Herald wrote about him when he died in 1966. I get the sense of a man with a lot of energy and purpose.

“His Deeds Will Live On” [Source:  Op Ed, Morning Herald, Hagerstown, MD September 24, 1966, page 6.]
“The Rev. J. E. Kemp Horn died this week at the age of 80, but his name and his deeds will live on. They will live primarily in the Kemp Horn Training Center for Retarded Children, which he founded in 1952 near Smithsburg. His name will be remembered in gratitude by the parents of scores of retarded children who have found at Kemp Training Center the help and the guidance they have so desperately needed. And he will be remembered for his long years of ministering to the needs of his fellow man as pastor of many churches, among them St. Paul’s Methodist in Hagerstown. He will also be remembered for his active and dedicated role in many civic enterprises.Of the Rev. Mr. Kemp Horn it can truly be said that his good deeds will live on after him. ”

Obituary: Rev J E Kemp Horn 80 Dies At Hospital [Source: The Morning Herald, Hagerstown, MD, September 23, 1966, P. 2.]
“The Rev J E Kemp Horn pastor of St Paul’s Methodist Church in Hagerstown from 1931 to 1941 and founder of the J E Kemp Horn Center for Retarded Children at Smithsburg died at 8 p.m at the Washington County Hospital. Mr Kemp Horn had been retired for the past 15 years. He was a son of the late Mr and Mrs John H Horn. Educated at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and Johns Hopkins University, Mr Kemp Horn was ordained into the ministry in 1911. He served Baltimore and Washington churches. When he retired from the ministry in 1952 Mr Kemp Horn organized the local program for retarded children and established the training center which was named in his honor. He was a chaplain in World War 1, a member of the District Conference of Methodist Churches, served on the Washington County Welfare Board and was a former president of the Civic Music Association. He was a member of the Torch Club and an honorary member of the Suburban Kiwanis Club. Mr Kemp Horn married Mrs Zula Spaulding who preceded him in death. In 1951 he married Mrs Carl Brandt who served with him at the Epworth Church in Washington. Besides his wife  he is survived by a sister Mrs Charles Chamberlain, Baltimore. J E Kemp Horn’s stepdaughter Mrs Julia B Hoopes Hagerstown, step grandchildren nieces and nephews. The body has been removed to the funeral home of A K Coffman where friends may call today. On Saturday it will be moved to St Paul’s Methodist Church where it will lie in state one hour prior to the service at 11. The Rev Raymond Lick superintendent of the District Conference and Rev Dr Norman F Van Brunt pastor of St Paul’s will conduct the service. Burial will be made in Druid Ridge Cemetery. The family requests that flowers be omitted and suggests memorial contributions to St Paul’s Methodist Church.”

This photo of Kemp was taken in 1918, while visiting his brother Harry M. Horn, Sr. in his office at Corrugated Bar Company, 17 Battery Place, New York City, just prior to going overseas to be a Chaplain to the troops in World War I.  Kemp was 32 years old. He was married to Zula Spaulding and living in Baltimore at the time.  He has a kind face. Kemp was much loved by the extended Horn family.

One of the nice things about doing family research is uncovering stories about people like Kemp Horn. People who quietly help other people. They should be remembered.