February 14, 1933 ~ August 29, 2022
Virginia L. (DeVito) Horn, 89, of Rockport, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend, passed away peacefully on August 29.
Virginia (Ginny to her friends) was the only child of Divina and Samuel DeVito. Her cousins from the DeCamillis, DeRocco, Lombardi, Altobelli, and DeVito families were like siblings to her. She grew up in the Maplewood section of Malden. Ginny graduated from Malden High School in 1950, where she met her future husband, Bernard (Bernie) R. Horn Sr, and from Fisher Junior College in 1952.
After he returned from his service in the Army, Bernie proposed to Virginia, and the couple married in 1953. They settled in Melrose and had four children: Bernard R. Horn Jr., Steven J. Horn, Paul C. Horn, and Kathleen A. Horn. The family moved to Shelton, CT, in 1969 and then to Reading in 1973.
Virginia was hard-working, getting her start arranging flowers at her family’s greenhouse as a young girl before working with her father at the Rowe Estate in Wayland. While raising her young family, Ginny made extra money selling Tupperware. As her children grew older, she began working in publishing, first with the Suburban News in Shelton and later with Addison-Wesley in Reading.
In 1981, Virginia and Bernie purchased Kendall Drugs in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. She helped customers by day and kept the books at night. The store was a perfect fit for Ginny’s bubbly personality and sense of humor. She loved the customers, staff and took great pride in the store’s extensive selection of artful greeting cards.
Virginia and Bernie moved to Florida after retiring, settling in Port St. Lucie year-round. She loved visiting her friends in her bright red golf cart, which she dubbed “The Lady in Red.” She enthusiastically planned and attended events and dances at the gated community, savored downtime on her lanai, and took joy in planting, especially her rose bushes.
Virginia was also generous and charitable. She and Bernie supported then-Celtics coach Chris Ford’s cystic fibrosis fundraising events, where she and family members participated in meet and greets with the coach and players before games. She was most proud of the signed basketballs won for each of her children by buying enough raffle tickets to stack the odds in her favor. She also was an active member of the Sons and Daughters of Italy where she was a past Lodge President, among other positions. She loved her Italian heritage and the Sons were like an extended family.
Virginia was preceded by Bernie, her “Irish Prince” and husband of sixty years, who passed away in 2014. She is survived by her four children: Bernard R. Horn Jr. of Reading and his wife Lorraine, Steven J. Horn of Parsonsfield, Maine, Paul C. Horn of Arlington, and Kathleen A. Horn of Winsted, Connecticut. She has five grandchildren: Alexis Horn-Snyder of Arlington and her husband Timothy, Samuel Horn of Reading and his wife Christina, Justine Horn of Littleton, NH, Shelby Rarog of Andover and her husband Alex, and Megan Banks of Berwick, ME and her husband Will. She has four great-grandchildren: Jackson, Patrick, and Lucy Horn, and Rowan Snyder.
Ginny’s family would like to express their gratitude and appreciation for those who took care of her over the past few years, especially Aidah Nassozi and Majjoren Kukiiriza of MM Home Healthcare in Waltham.
Family and friends will gather to honor Ginny from 4 to 8pm on Thursday at Cota Funeral Homes, 335 Park Street, North Reading, MA. Services will be held Friday at 11:30 AM at Saint Athanasius Parish, 300 Haverhill Street, Reading MA, before Virginia is laid to rest next to her husband Bernie at Wood End Cemetery, 33 Franklin Street, Reading MA.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bernard R. Horn Sr. and Virginia Horn Memorial Scholarship c/o Charitable & Education Trust, Order Sons & Daughters of Italy, 93 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA, 02478, or the Wakefield Sons & Daughters of Italy Scholarship & Charity Fund, c/o Paula Sasso, 30 Bear Hill Rd., Stoneham MA, 02180. Also, Virginia would want you to give your loved ones a hug and a kiss and tell them it was from her one last time, as she would often say in her goodbyes.
