Doug Horne, 69: Computer wiz

By Rick Badie

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Doug Horne knew the mind of a computer as if it were his own.

When it came to troubleshooting, it took no time for him to figure out what had gone haywire, then fix it.  He always had a computer in his home, even back in the early 1980s. His daughter, Patsy Plumberg of Atlanta, remembers being the only one of her teen friends to have a computer, or two, at home.

"This was back before they were common in people's homes," she said. "It was really neat. My father was good at what he did, really awesome."

Apparently so.

After college, he was hired by Scientific Atlanta. At one point, he was part of a traveling  engineering team assigned to work on the Apollo 11 guidance computer system. Mr. Horne spent time in California and Cocoa Beach, Fla., helping create the system, friends and relatives said.

"When I had to do a project back in 7th grade, I chose the Apollo mission," his daughter said. "I asked him lots of questions. He only did it a brief while, but it was something he was proud of."

On Wednesday, Douglas Oliver "Doug" Horne died from complications of emphysema at his home. He was 69. A memorial service will be held at a later date. A.S. Turner & Sons is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Horne was a second-generation Atlantan and a 1958 Druid Hills High graduate. He attended Georgia Tech briefly before he transferred to Southern Polytechnic State University. There, in 1961, he earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.

After working at Scientific Atlanta for several years, Mr. Horne returned to the city and settled  in the same Druid Hills-area house he grew up in. By then, he'd married and had a son.

He went to work for the family business, Horne Desk & Fixture Co., which sold office furniture. It was founded in 1912 by William Alonzo Horne Sr., Mr. Horne's grandfather. Ethan Allen was a major competitor.

Mr. Horne served various roles in his rise to company vice president. When the business was sold in 1982,  he returned not only to what he knew, but what he loved.  He founded Horne's Leasing, a one-man operation in which he  installed and maintained arcade games for businesses.

He ran the business from 1985 until 1993, the year he was diagnosed with emphysema and went on oxygen. In retirement, he worked for six years at Whitewater Express in Decatur.

Jim Slemenda of Atlanta met Mr. Horne through Atlanta P.C. Users group, a resource organization for computer users. He was the group's current treasurer; Mr. Horne had been its at-large board member.

"His interest ability and knowledge of computers was very high," Mr. Slemenda said. "From the user end, I would have to call him an expert. People would call on him for help, for knowledge."

Additional survivors include his wife of 31 years, Carol Horne; three additional daughters, Cecelia Sanders Robbinsof  Lilburn; Michelle Dell of  Snellville, and Katie Horne of Atlanta; a son, David Horne of Moscow, Russia; a sister, Shirley Hoskins of Louisville, Ky., and seven grandchildren.