Family, others mourn slain BMFA director Barry T. Horn

Friends and loved ones of Barry T. Horn gathered at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on a sunny, cool and beautiful Saturday morning to say their last goodbye to the executive director of the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art.

They showed their love and respect for Horn, while the angelic voices of the UTB-TSC Master Chorale resonated throughout the church — and as Horn’s casket was brought in for the funeral service.

The Rev. Michael Amasse, speaking to 200-300 people at the service, said Horn had great love for the church and for the arts — and that love was returned and shared by the community.

"This was a fitting farewell," said Will Everett later while discussing Horn, who was slain last month. "Barry loved music and people and, in a sad way, he got both (at his funeral)."

Everett, a Horn friend and colleague at the museum, recalled that approximately three months ago, Horn’s family was at the same church sitting in the same seats saying farewell to Horn’s father.

"This time, Barry wasn’t sitting with the family," he said.

"Barry’s passing will leave a cultural vacuum in Brownsville," Everett added. "He loved the arts and had the unique gift of bringing people together. Barry was the kind of person who made very complex things look easy."

After the funeral, a group of Horn’s friends gathered at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art for a reception in his memory.

Meme Garza said at the reception that he still could not believe that he had been a pallbearer in the funeral of such a loved friend.

"He was a very unique person," Garza said. " He had a knack for figuring out your own uniqueness and from there he would fix on that and bring out your goodness."

Garza and Horn began their friendship as children at a Washington Street kindergarten and kept in touch through Horn’s junior year at St. Joseph’s Academy, when he moved to San Antonio.

"He was a very funny guy; you could be silly around him," Garza said. "I enjoyed his company. His easygoing personality just brought out the goodness in people. He was a good friend, very loyal. His greatest trait was that he was always looking for ways to help people, he will be missed by the community."

Angela Burton, another friend who was outside the church following the service, said she was emotionally moved by the service.

"Brownsville has lost a wonderful soul, but heaven has gained one," Burton said.

On Oct. 24 Horn was found stabbed to death in his Brownsville home. Ernesto Ivan Martinez, 20, was charged with murder in the death. He remains in custody.