In the 1940s, Dorothy Horne embarked on a career as an elementary teacher that would span 38 years and even included a short stint as a teacher in Japan.
She made an annual salary of $1,000 her first year. More than 70 years later, after a life well lived, her legacy continues to make a difference in the lives of children through the Dorothy Horne Endowment at Florida Baptist Children’s Homes. When Dorothy passed away in 2015, at the age of 89, her family discovered a certificate of deposit in her name and an estate gift was designated to change the lives of children through FBCH.
Dorothy’s brother Kermit, one of her five siblings, established the endowment to provide school supplies, athletic gear, band nephews like royalty. She would regularly present them with delightful treasures when they visited.
In an articulate short “autobiography” Dorothy penned in her later years, she thanked God for guiding her life and for giving her the best career as a teacher.
Dorothy attended First Baptist Church of Tampa for much of her life, beginning in the early 1950s. “If she knew how her gifts were helping children,” her niece Serena said, “she would be so tickled.”