1970

Robert Curtis Horner died October 3, 1992, of injuries sustained in an airplane crash in Franklin, N.H. Rob was born in Bar Harbor, Maine, on February 7, 1949, to an old Down East family whose forbears included sea captains and a chief justice of the Maine Supreme Court. His early days in this idyllic setting were filled with hiking, fishing, hunting, sports—especially baseball and basketball—and mastering the proper technique for baking beans.

At Dartmouth Rob was a member of TriKap, the Glee Club, and the Injunaires, and he studied abroad in France. His project there on Alsace wines earned him a special citation from the College. Associate Professor of History Charles Wood specified: "Mr. Horner writes with zest and has so totally immersed himself in French culture that his . . . whole approach and point of view seems that of a native French man."

Zest. Total immersion. Everyone who ever knew Rob would quickly use words with those sentiments to describe him. His sense of humor was legion and contagious. The children in his extended family definitely considered him one of their own on account of it. Although he maintained an active and successful legal career, his professional peers were no less impressed by his joy for living life to the fullest. His family and a host of friends are left with memory upon memory of his exuberant escapades, infectious warmth, and charming demeanor.

Rob graduated from Dartmouth cum laude and went on to complete his formal studies at New York University School of Law. He then immediately joined the New York firm of Haight, Gardner, Poor, and Havens, assigned to the aviation group because of his "desire to translate a lifelong passion for aviation into a significant part of my professional life." One of his achievements there was the translation from French into English of the minutes of the Second International Conference on Private Aeronautical Law (which produced the Warsaw Convention, considered the most important meeting ever held in the field of aviation law). He was often on extended assignments in Paris working with Air France during these years.

In 1986 Rob joined Goldstein & Manelo in Boston, was later made partner, and headed the firm's International Law Department. By 1990 he was back in Paris, this time with Withers, a firm of English solicitors. In 1992 his business efforts were shifting again back to the U.S., this time with Lake Aircraft in Laconia, N.H.

In spite of a busy and fulfilling career, Rob was always most at home in Maine. He loved the outdoors and the beauty of the coastal islands. Six years ago his family pitched in to help him build a cottage on Stave Island Maine, and for his 40th birthday he was coronated the "King of Stave Island." By all accounts, he was perfect for the role.

Rob leaves his wife, Nicola, son Asa, and daughter Eva, born four months after her father's death. His father, W. Rea Horner, predeceased him, but Rob's mother, Bea Lou Horner, survives along with his sister Andrea Semels, brother Dr. William R. Horner '63, and several nieces and nephews, several of whom have attended Dartmouth.

Few can ever hope to achieve Rob's success in melding the love of a place and the love of life with personal interests and a profession. Rob was an inspiration to everyone who knew him. The class extends its deepest sympathy to his family.

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