Sue Ann Horton

Sue Ann Brown Horton, 89, passed away September 2, 2023, in Largo, Florida, after enjoying a beautiful and eventful life. She was born October 9, 1933, in Anderson, Indiana, to Milo T. & Margaret I. (Smith) Brown. She moved to Kokomo, Indiana, at the age of four and remained there until moving to Largo, Florida, in 2016. In 1955, she married Max Allen Horton at Main Street Christian Church in Kokomo, Indiana, who passed away in 1991.

She graduated from Kokomo High School in 1951, and Ball State University in 1954, with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She received her master’s degree in Speech and Hearing Therapy in 1973. She was a lifelong member of First Christian Church (formerly Main Street Christian Church), very active in Girl Scouts, and a past honored Queen of Bethel #20 in Kokomo. She was Miss Howard County 1951 and won many scholarships in college. She was a past member of Tri Kappa and Sigma Kappa Sororities, as well as Altrusa Club, Howard County Easter Seal Society, Indiana United Cerebral Palsy, March of Dimes, and Overeater’s Anonymous, all of which she held many offices. She retired from teaching elementary and middle school in 2012, after 54 years. She worked fifty-one of those years at Kokomo Center Schools and twenty-three of those years devoted to teaching mentally alert physically disabled children, which was her favorite and most rewarding part of her career. In the 1960’s, she started the first classroom at Kokomo Schools for mentally disabled children. The last 13 years of her career were spent in Speech and Language Therapy at Kokomo Schools. Many of her students became lifelong friends. In the mid 1980’s, she owned Teach’s Pizza Den in Kokomo, Indiana, employing the physically disabled, for which she was awarded “employer of the year”.

She loved traveling, swimming (at the YMCA every morning at 5 am before teaching school), sewing, and spending time with her family and friends.

She is survived by her sons, Timothy Milo Horton, Kokomo, Thomas Allen Horton, Anderson, James Victor Horton, Largo, Florida, and Jonathan Edward Horton, Indianapolis; her sister and brother-in-law, Mila Jean and Edgar Kitt, Henderson, Nevada; grandson, Reilly (Lauren) Horton, her stepdaughter, Samantha Jean (Jeff) Ross, North Vernon; step grandsons, Adam and Zachary Ross; and close family friends she considered her “adopted” children and best buddies, David Oliver, Lexington, Kentucky, Lynda Bentle, Middletown, and Marla Keck, Kokomo.

A memorial service will be held at 3:30pm Saturday, September 23, 2023, at First Christian Church, 854 County Road 300 W., Kokomo, Indiana, with Rev Dr Al Adams officiating. Friends are invited to visit with the family from 2:00pm until service time at the church. Refreshments and a time of fellowship will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to First Christian Church, Organ Repair Fund, 854 County Road 300 W., Kokomo, Indiana 46901.

Private inurnment will be made in Sharpsville Cemetery in Sharpsville, Indiana. Shirley & Stout Funeral Home & Crematory is assisting the family with local arrangements. Messages of condolence may be left online at www.shirleyandstout.com.

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