Barbara B. Horn

Barbara Brice Horn, 84, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri died Friday, June 12, 2026, at her home. She was born November 17, 1941, in Tampa, Florida to Charles DeFrance and Nora Marie Hollingsworth Brice. Most of her childhood was spent in a tiny phosphate company town called Brewster, Florida where everyone knew everyone and she had the safety to roam and play, making many lifelong friends. This open and friendly upbringing led her to be a gregarious person that never met a stranger later in life. Barbara attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, graduating with a degree in Interior Design. She enjoyed bringing clients' abstract ideas into enjoyable, concrete reality in their homes and businesses as she used her degree in design houses in Tampa, Atlanta, and Lexington, Kentucky. She and Dr. Paul Conrad Horn were married January 8, 1966, in Lakeland, Florida. They lived in Gainesville and Key West, Florida while he was in the Navy; Lexington, Kentucky while he completed his medical training in Pathology; and finally settled in Cape Girardeau, Missouri in 1970 as he began his medical practice and their daughter was born. The following year together they bought their first apartment building, gutting and remodeling it themselves in the evenings after Paul finished work. For many years Barbara managed the decorating and leasing side as they bought one property after another, working on updating them together. This slowly launched a family residential and commercial real estate business that still continues. An enthusiastic collaborator as well as creator, Barbara jumped into St Vincent de Paul's Christmas Bazaars, banner making, prayer groups, and RCIA classes. When their daughter reached school age, Barbara volunteered in many ways at St Vincent School before later joining with other parents to create Project Prom and Project Graduation at Notre Dame. If she saw a need, she wasn't afraid to voice it and join with others to find a way to meet it. In the early 1970s, she also united with other Medical Auxiliary wives to help teach CPR throughout the region to a generation of locals. Together the couple combined their passion for their Catholic faith with their firm belief in ensuring the financial security and long-term stability of Catholic healthcare, education and ministry with his support for the Notre Dame Foundation; St. Francis Foundation; both St. Vincent de Paul and St Mary's schools and parishes; Catholic Campus Ministry at the Newman Center; Catholic Young Adult Ministry; and Life House locally, as well as many Catholic Seminaries and Convents nationally. Although the couple spent many years at St. Vincent de Paul and also attended the Newman Center, in their later years Paul and Barbara were members of St. Mary Cathedral in Cape Girardeau. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Paul and six of their children that were lost early in the womb, including Hannah Louise Horn, Thomas Steven Horn, Robert Anthony Horn, Margaret Elizabeth Horn, Ann Marie Horn and Michael Jeffrey Horn. She is survived by their daughter, Jennifer Horn. The family would like to thank Barbara's 24/7 caregiving team Bonnie and Tyanna and their backup helpers that allowed her to come home for her last weeks. Thanks also to the St. Francis MICU; the staff on the 2nd and 4th Tower floors; the SFMC Hospice group; Chateau Rehab; her doctors; and our army of "chosen family" made up of friends, family and those whose lives she had touched that stormed Heaven for her peaceful passing in God's good time. Visitation will be Thursday, June 18, 2026, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at the Ford & Sons - Mount Auburn Chapel in Cape Girardeau, MO, with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 6:00 pm. The Funeral Mass will be at 2:00 pm Friday, June 19, 2026, at the St. John Henry Newman Center at SEMO, 512 Pacific St., Cape Girardeau, MO, with Fr. Patrick Nwokoye as Celebrant. Burial will be at Cape County Memorial Park Cemetery in Cape Girardeau, MO. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to St. Francis Foundation, 211 St. Francis Dr., Cape Girardeau, MO 63703 for their Hospice Program (sfmc.net) or to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN (stjude.org). Online condolences may be made at www.fordandsonsfuneralhome.com. Ford & Sons Funeral Home - Mt. Auburn is in charge of arrangements.

Tributes

Barbara B. Horn

November 17, 1941 - June 12, 2026