PEABODY, MA: Dr. Marion Van Horne, 97, died Saturday, July 16, 2011 at her residence at Brooksby Village.
Born in Herkimer, New York, she studied at the University of Missouri and Syracuse University School of Journalism. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Religious Education from Schauffler College of Religious and Social Work and earned her M.A. and Ed.D. degrees from New York University.
Dr. Van Horne was a staff member of the Division of Overseas Ministries of the National Council of Churches. She was the Director of Print Media and Writer Training of Intermedia, the agency through which Intermedia combines the work of the former Lit-Lit Committee and RAVEMCO, both of whom promoted the use of media overseas. She had also served for twelve years as National Director of Youth Work of the Reformed Church in America. Previous to that, she was Director of Christian Education of the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Toledo, Ohio.
Dr. Van Horne was the author of WRITE THE VISION, a manual for writers, and GIVE CHILDREN WINGS, a manual on how to write for children. She was the former editor of THE WORD AT WORK, a quarterly publication for literature workers overseas and was a frequent contributor to denominational magazines in this country.
Dr. Van Horne spent a large part of each year overseas training writers and assisting publishers and editors in their literature programs. As an Executive Officer of the Committee on Christian Literature for Women and Children, she was actively engaged in the production of children’s books. Dr. Van Horne has traveled widely in Asia, Africa and Latin America and has led writer’s workshops in more than forty-eight countries.
Interment will be held privately at the Memorial Society of the Riverside Church, New York, New York. Arrangements were under the direction of the Grondin Funeral Home, 376 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA 01915.