'Truly glad they were together': Community mourns, remembers couple in 80s found dead in drainage ditch
Casey Susong knew David and Martha Horn ever since she was a kid.
"She gave the best hugs," Susong said. "I only got to chat with her husband a few times at their home, and he was just as amazing as she was."
The former student at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Rockledge, where Martha Horn worked as a substitute teacher, and a neighbor to the couple, Susong said the news of their death was heartbreaking.
"My heart breaks for such sweet people," she said. "This is not the way I would want anyone to go to their resting place. But I'm truly glad they were together."
The couple was found dead in a drainage ditch near Glenn Avenue in unincorporated Rockledge the afternoon of June 15 after a family member reported them missing, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office reported.
The Sheriff's Office said David Horn, 89, and Martha Horn, 84, were "suffering from the infirmities of aging" and that they did not suspect foul play. A cause of death has not been determined.
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Following their death, community members took to social media to recall their memories of the couple, whether it be their time spent in Martha Horn's classes or when they visited the Christmas light display the couple used to put up at their home.
A FLORIDA TODAY column from December 1995 listed their home on the corner of Lee and Glenn Avenue as a place to see holiday lights, saying they had 4,000 lights on display, a sleigh with reindeers on their roof, as well as snowmen, elves and a handmade church on the lawn. They decorated their home for more than 20 years.
Neighbors weren't sure exactly when the couple moved into the neighborhood, but estimated they had lived there since the 1960s.
According to Brevard Public Schools records, Martha Horn was hired in 1979 as a clerk typist and worked for the district until 2001. She was a substitute teacher at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Rockledge — a job many community members still remember her for years later.
"She was a firecracker and wouldn’t take any guff from any of the disrespectful students," said Stephen Franks-Wilson, a Cocoa resident who graduated high school in 2001 and had Horn as a substitute teacher in several classes during middle school. "She was very sweet and always showed compassion when she saw you were having a bad day."
Eric LaMarr, a 2003 graduate of Rockledge High School, was another one of her students.
"I remember her as a feisty, vibrant and fun sub in the schools," he said. "She really stood out and I still, till this day, recall her."
In their unincorporated Rockledge neighborhood, the Horns lived a quiet life, enjoying garage sales and their annual Christmas light display for many years.
Katie Morris, who grew up across the street from them, said the holiday display was iconic in the area.
"They used to set it up before Thanksgiving because there was so much stuff to set up," she said. "(There) used to be a line of cars to get in the neighborhood."
Ashley Buitrago, who was also a student of Horn's, said now, as an adult, she'd see Martha Horn in the neighborhood.
"She loved going to garage sales," she said. "Whenever I would have one, she always made sure to come by and check it out."
The Brevard County medical examiner is conducting autopsies to determine the couples' cause of death. Family could not be reached.
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Couple found dead in unincorporated Rockledge remembered by community
