Person:Vergene Braithwaite (1)

▼Obituary for Vergene Elizabeth Horie

Vergene Elizabeth (Braithwaite) Horie, 86, died peacefully in her sleep on Friday, March 16, 2018 in Philadelphia, PA. She previously lived in Willow Street, PA, and before that, 22 years in Tucson, AZ. She was born in New Dover, OH, and through the years, made homes in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Long Island, New York.

Vergene graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Otterbein College. During her high school and college career, she played basketball, softball and earned national certification to referee volleyball. Her strongest sport was field hockey, in which she made the all-Ohio team. After college, she spent many years teaching physical education and afterward remained a lifelong proponent of public education.

Beyond their six children, Vergene and her husband Skip provided a home for many international exchange students and especially a large number of foster children. They lost count as the number neared 100. After her children were older, she worked until retirement as an aide at a school for children with special needs. After moving to Arizona, she volunteered for St. Mary’s Thrift Store , Camp Hope and SALOC (Southern Arizona Light Opera Company). During the past decade in Pennsylvania, she volunteered for six years at Immerse International, a home for international students. As the house grandmother, she became affectionately known as “Mama Gene,” a nickname she especially treasured. Vergene was very handy with a knitting needle and crochet hook and helped some of her grandchildren get started on the same hobbies. She was a long-time member of the First United Methodist Church in Tucson. Her dedication to the Lord and faithfulness in her daily devotions and prayer never waned even to her last day.

She and Skip had a passion for adventure, which included rafting trips down the Colorado River, visiting Alaska in the middle of winter, hiking the Grand Canyon from rim to rim, and bidding on and winning the right to operate a snack bar at a Long Island beach so their kids could have the experience of running it. They loved to travel, including trips all over the U.S. and to Brazil, Australia, Ethiopia, Israel, and Oberammergau, Germany, where she fulfilled her lifelong wish to see the famous Passion Play held there every ten years.

Vergene was preceded in death by her husband of almost 56 years, William James “Skip” Horie, of Tucson, AZ; her daughter, Nancijo Elizabeth Dixon, of Dover, PA; and her brother, Jack Clyde Braithwaite, of Richwood, OH. She is survived by her five children, Cynthia (Mark) Bradshaw of Dublin, OH; Kendra (Gary) Platt of Upper Darby, PA; Douglas (Bennie) Horie of Anderson, CA; Wendy (John) Canavan of St Joseph, MI; and Jennifer (Dan) McClary of Willow Street, PA; 14 grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren with two more due later this year.

A graveside service and interment will be held for family on March 28, 2018 at Evergreen Cemetery, N. Oracle Rd & W. Miracle Mile, Tucson, AZ. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in the name of Vergene Elizabeth Horie to Otterbein University at 1 South Grove Street, Westerville, OH 43081.

▼RC's Note

Vergene was a classmate at Otterbein College of Helen Haines

Vergene's engagement announcement

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Personal Knowledge.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Online obituary.