Obituary of Gerald Horton

Gerald Talmadge Horton

(July 5, 1934 October 29, 2008)

Gerald Talmadge Horton of Jacksonville, Florida, died at his home today in the company of his loving family after a brief, but brave, battle with a highly aggressive cancer. He lived 74 full and active years on this earth. A devoted son of the rising and rapidly changing American South in the later half of 20th century, Horton was a scholar, sailor, public servant, businessman, academic, arts enthusiast and angler, who held a deep and abiding faith in the equality of man and the cause of social justice. Horton is survived by his wife Kathryn Birmingham, Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the downtown Jacksonville campus of Florida Community College; his three children Elizabeth Carlton Hill of Atlanta, Gerald Talmadge Horton of Athens, and William Henry Dannehl Horton of Chicago; and four grandchildren Memphis Jane Hill, Samuel Hudson Hill, Elizabeth Dannehl Horton and Taylor Reid Horton. The family is planning memorial services in Jacksonville and Atlanta in late November to allow time for friends and family to gather with advance notice. They request that condolences and requests for information on arrangements be sent to celebratehorton@yahoo.com. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be considered toward the establishment of the Gerald Talmadge Horton Non-Profit Management Joint Scholarship Fund at the University of Georgia and the University of Florida. Jerry Horton was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1934 to parents Osborne Talmadge Horton and Elsie Shook Horton. His father was a Woolworths manager, whose many postings took him and his brother Robert Horton to small towns from Anniston, Alabama, to Cumberland, Tennessee, before finally settling in Atlanta, Georgia. Horton graduated from Murphy High School in 1952 and was awarded an academic scholarship to attend Harvard College, where he matriculated later that year as the Southern Scholar. A resident of Eliot House, Horton graduated from Harvard cum laude with a BA in Philosophy in 1956. Horton served his country in the United States Navy as a Staff Officer to the Commander Second Fleet aboard the U.S.S. North Hampton, and was honorably discharged in August 1961. Returning to Atlanta, Horton began his business career as Director of Research, Coordinator of the Forward Atlanta Development Program, and Research Editor of Atlanta Magazine at the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce in 1961. From 1962-1964, Horton lived in Washington, D.C., where he continued his public service as Administrative Assistant to U.S. Representative Charles Weltner of Atlantas 5th Congressional District. Horton founded the Research Group Inc., a public policy, city planning and social research firm in Atlanta in 1966 and served as its chief executive until 1979. He later reopened the practice in 1985 as an outlet for his numerous business, non-profit and higher education consulting endeavors for clients like The Coca-Cola Foundation, The United Way and Northeastern University . Horton was elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1968 and served six terms as an at-large representative from Fulton County. Horton chaired the powerful Committee on Industry and was vice-chairman of the Committee on State Planning & Community Affairs. He also served on the Reapportionment, University Systems, Ways and Means, and Banks and Banking committees before voluntarily resigning from office in 1979. A leading state legislator on the national stage, Horton chaired the Community Affairs Task Force of the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures from 1973-1974 and co-chaired the National Task Force on Land Use of the Council of State Governments in 1974-1975. After an accomplished career in public office, Horton again turned his focus to business as Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Strategic Planning, at the Georgia Power Company from 1979-1985. He then moved to New York City to take up the reins of Ogilvy & Mather Public Relations Group as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1985-1987. At Ogilvy, Horton led the development of major social investment, arts and philanthropic projects for clients like AT&T, The Pew Charitable Trust and NBC. In 1987, Horton began ten years of academic service as Executive Professor of Management and founding Head of the Non-profit Management Program at the University of Georgias Terry College of Business in Athens. He later served as a Professor of Business at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, and Head of the Florida Independent College Fund from 1997-2000.Hortons other academic affiliations included Instructor and Lecturer at the Graduate School of City Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology from 1975-1980; Visiting Professor at The New School for Social Research, Center for Urban Management from 1977-1978; Visiting Professor and Chairman of the Advisory Council at Atlanta Universitys School of Social from 1982-1986; Chairman of the Advisory Council for the Graduate School of Social Work at Atlanta University; and Advisory Committee Member of the Kellogg National Fellowship Program from 1982-1984.Horton completed his career as a Visiting Executive Professor at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Floridas College of Business from 2001-2008.A passionate devotee of American folk art and a patron of numerous modern carvers throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Horton and his wife Kathryn recently exhibited their eclectic and broadly representative collection at the Coral Springs Museum of Art. An avid angler, Horton also wished to extend his particular gratitude to Captain Kirk Waltz of Jacksonville, Captain Kevin Faver of St. Augustine, and Captains Roy Lindback and Beau Beeler of Islamorada, Florida, for their friendship and camaraderie on the water. Importantly, Horton wished to express his heartfelt thanks for years of insightful, inspiring, often humorous, yet largely unsolicited, counsel from his esteemed and trusted Advisors. To all his friends and family, Horton recommended the lesson of John 21:5-6: Then Jesus said to them, Children, have you any food? They answered Him, No. And he said to them, Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some. So they cast, and they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.

Funeral arrangements are being made through Arlington Park Funeral Home, 6920 Lone Star Road, Jacksonville, Florida, (904) 724-6384.