THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, February 25, 2022 Page 9 HORNE | FROM PAGE 8 a fair price and off I went. Had to admit, though, I was struck by the totally unique take on a dentist’s offi ce I got that day. It was like sitting in someone’s living room, literally, waiting to go into the actual dentist’s chair. Didn’t actually put it together until later that Dr. Horne lived there as well, with his family. Fast-forward 24 years later. I had gone to Dr. Horne sporadically in the time from 1979 to the late 1990s, not as much as I should have, though. By 2003, I was in trouble. My teeth were a mess. I had been going to a local corporate dental operation, and they had told me I needed a lot of work on my teeth, quoting me a cost fi gure well north of $3,000. Not able to aff ord that, I decided to reconnect with Dr. Horne and see what this dentist might have to say. He agreed there was work to be done... but instead laid out a plan where I could come once a week, for 10-12 weeks, but for about one third of the cost of the other estimate I received. Sold! “We’ll take care of it, Stevie,” Dr. Horne said, in his reassuring way, adding, “Just bring what you can, until you get caught up.” This was in reference to the payments, giving me the impression he used this “pay what you can” installment plan with more patients than just me. To this day, I think he was the only person who ever called me “Stevie” on a regular basis. I got “Steve” most of the time, or my last name, more than that. But from him? It kind of fi t, coming from Dr. Horne, and I didn’t mind. The 10-12 weeks in the spring of 2003 when I was getting my whole mouth redone, basically, coincided with the time the high school baseball team I coached, the Malden Catholic Lancers, was marching through a season to remember, one that eventually ended in a special way – top of the heap as State Champions. Every week I went back to Dr. Horne’s office where he was working on my messed up teeth and he would get an update as we progressed further and further to the ultimate prize. I think it must have spurred recollections of his own past high school tales of glory. He started talking about his football days at Lynn Classical, where he was on a team led by who many call the “greatest high school football player who ever lived,” Harry Agganis. Wow! My dentist played on the National Championship Team in 1947 with Harry Agganis! He showed me pictures he had around the offi ce from the 1947 and 1948 Lynn Classical teams. What a treat! ***** A personable guy with magnetism and good ear to listen Through the years that followed, I stayed a regular patient of Dr. Horne’s, right up until I received a notice in the mail that he was retiring. I got the letter in early fall of 2013. Dr. Horne was closing his Malden offi ce for good at the fi rst of the year in 2014. All those biannual visits for checkups in the offi ce that never changed from the 1970s to the 2000s where we traded stories and updates came to mind. “How’s it going with the baseball, Stevie,” it would always begin. Then he might tell me a story from his own past, from his days at Lynn Classical or his later years at Dartmouth College, or his time at the military hospital in Japan, where he served as a dental assistant, unexpectedly, just after the Korean War broke out in 1950. He always had a tale or two to tell, whether it was regaling over his hole in one at the age of 75 in the mid-2000s, or a recollection of a past night out to dinner at the old Kernwood in Malden Square, with David and Estelle Brickman, the late publisher of the former Malden Evening News and his wife, with whom we shared mutual acquaintance and friendship. Dr. Horne’s late wife, Jeanne, served many years as “the gatekeeper” to Mr. Brickman as his personal administrative assistant for many years. I found Dr. Horne to be a unique person who had a certain personal magnetism, with the uncanny ability to connect the past to the present – a real “character” with a way about him that was disarming, charming and just good, old-fashioned “down to earth.” We of the “Old School” would refer to John Horne as a bona fi de “straight shooter” who said what he meant and meant what he said, and did not have to “talk in circles” because he had earned the right to say what was on his mind and not have sugar coat or belabor points when he spoke. In doing a little research before writing my own recollection here, I came across this absolute gem from an old “Ratings Chat” I found online about Dr. Horne, and I quote, from 2005: “This dentist is a straight shooter. His expenses are low, his kids are grown so he can aff ord to give his patients what they need and at a price they can aff ord. His offi ce and manner do not particularly inspire a sense of the modern, but his peers (endodontists etc) marvel at his energy in keeping up with his fi eld. At about 70 he is still fascinated by his own fi eld and its advances. He gave me 20 years plus of my upper teeth when all the ‘experts’ said at 32 yrs old I should extract them all. I drive an hour each way to see him and have been for 15 yrs.” Wow!! I just found this on Tuesday of this week, and it fi ts my own remembrances to an absolute “tee.” Spot on, all the way. When I got the note in the mail when he announced he was retiring and closing the offi ce on Clifton Street, in 2013, I drove by there about two weeks later, hoping to see him and wish him well, as there had been little notice other than the note. But he had already moved from the city. So I just mailed my own note of thanks, wishing him well and appreciating all the kindnesses he had shown me through the years. Then, two weeks ago, I learned of his passing, on February 4, at the age of 90. A second “goodbye,” this one, for the last time.I had always intended on writing something about my own thoughts on this remarkable man who went about his business for over half a century right in our midst, touching so many lives and most certainly leaving his mark in our fi ne community. Thank you, Dr. John R. Horne, Jr., for all you shared with me and so many others in Malden and surrounding communities for nearly six decades. You are and will surely be missed. Congratulations on being blessed with a life well lived. Classifieds Advocate Call now! 617-387-2200 advertise on the web atwww.advocatenews.net A 6-piece classic rock band featuring music from the 60’s to the 80’s. YOU CAN JOIN THE FUN TOO, SO Bring your guitar, bass, mic, harp or just your dancing shoes. Come and enjoy the music, dancing and singing. We hope to see you there. 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