Ellen Marquis Horner

Ellen Marquis Horner, 97, of College Station, Texas, passed peacefully from this life on September 23, 2024, surrounded by loved ones. Ellen was a quietly spirited “Tessie” Texan and Aggie, with a passion for family, music and community service. Born on August 3, 1927, to James Terry Hausman, an accountant at the Fort Worth Stockyards, and Helen Smith Hausman, a homemaker, Ellen expressed an early love of music, learning both piano and cello which she pursued through high school (Arlington Heights, 1944), as a piano performance major at Texas State College for Women (now Texas Woman’s University) in 1948 and as a founding member of the Bryan-College Station Chamber Orchestra and the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years. Indeed, music played a vital thread throughout Ellen’s life both personally and professionally.

Community service and teaching, however, may be where Ellen will be most recognized. Ellen was a much loved Texas History teacher for 14 years at A&M Consolidated Middle School where, unsurprisingly, she also accompanied the choir. As a member of A&M United Methodist Church she taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, organized Christmas shoeboxes for Houston International Seafarers Center at the Port of Houston and sat on the board of directors as the recording secretary for Texas A&M Wesley Foundation (the Methodist Student Center) for many years. Ellen was an active member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, Chapter EQ. Her passion for genealogy led her to help research the descendants of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, as a member of the Texas Research Ramblers and of the Daughters of the American Revolution, La Villita Chapter. She helped transcribe and proofread census data for the national database as a board member of the USGenWeb Project. Ellen also helped organize flag placement on veterans’ graves at College Station City Cemetery and Memorial Cemetery from the 1990s until 2021 when she finally stepped away at the age of 94! In recognition of her service, former College Station Mayor Karl Mooney declared May 24, 2019, “Ellen Marquis Horner Day”.

Above all the talent and service, love and family were the core foundation elements of Ellen’s life. In the Fall of 1951, Ellen met a handsome young man named Gene Marquis from Missouri on a blind date at a SMU football game. By August 1952, they were married. After a short stint in Cincinnati, OH they moved to San Antonio to start a new business and a new family. Ellen supported Gene’s growing Johnson & Marquis Consulting Engineers firm while raising three beautiful and talented daughters – Mary, Terry and Helen. Ellen played piano for their church children’s choir and was their Girl Scout leader and outdoor skills instructor until 1971 when the family relocated to College Station where Gene completed a PhD in Civil Engineering at A&M in 1974. Ellen also earned her Master of Education from A&M in 1977. After proudly graduating all three girls from college, Ellen and Gene enjoyed the life of empty nesters traveling, skiing and visiting kids and grandkids until Gene became ill and passed away in 1987.

After a difficult time, Ellen was blessed to be introduced by a mutual friend to a Kansas State Wildcat businessman who just happened to play the cello. After a short courtship, Ellen married Charlie Horner. Together they enjoyed 20 years of music (both volunteering for the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra as well as members of a local quartet that performed for churches and retirement communities), traveling, genealogy, lunching with their A&M Methodist Sunday School class and visiting extended families.

During the last few years of her life, in addition to being cared for by her three daughters, Ellen was provided loving care by Enhabit Hospice and caregivers at Parc at Traditions, Comfort Keepers and Caring Companions.

Ellen is preceded in death by her parents, both husbands, and her two sisters, Dorothy Peach, late of Norman, OK, and Helen Scott, late of Nathrop, CO. She is survived by her three daughters and their husbands, Mary and Gary Poulain of Edmond, OK; Terry and Randy Massey of Atlanta, GA; Helen and Lee Wood of Bend OR; seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Her Celebration of Life ceremony will be held at Callaway-Jones Funeral Home, 3001 S. College Avenue, in Bryan on Saturday, November 9th at 11:00am. The only request we have is to wear something colorful!

In lieu of flowers, the family requests to please send donations to either

• Texas A&M Wesley Foundation, 201 Tauber Street, College Station, TX 77840 or online, https://tamuwesley.org/give.

• or the Eugene L Marquis Endowed Fellowship Fund through the Texas A&M Foundation, 401 George Bush Drive, College Station, Texas 77840, designated gifts “in memory of Ellen Horner” in the memo line of the check. Gifts received will be applied to the Eugene L. Marquis Endowed Fellowship in Civil Engineering account. To donate online, go to give.am and select “Unlisted Account,” enter Eugene L. Marquis Endowed Fellowship, and select “This gift is in honor of someone special,” and enter Ellen Horner. Express condolences with the family at www.CallawayJones.com.