A memorial service will be held March 4 at 2 p.m. at The Carter Center’s Cecil B. Day Chapel, 453 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, Georgia. Memorial contributions may be made to the Lewis C. Horne Memorial Fund, supporting minority junior golfers through the American Junior Golf Association. Contributions may be sent to AJGA Foundation, Attention: Lew Horne Memorial Fund, 1980 Sports Club Drive, Braselton, GA 30517, or at AJGA.
Mr. Lewis C. Horne, Jr. (October 7, 1950-February 24, 2017)
Mr. Horne was a leading public finance attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, and served as a Partner at Arnall Golden Gregory, LLP. He passed away on February 24, 2017, after a short illness with cancer. He was 66. Affectionately known as “Lew” he was beloved by many for his upbeat wit and friendliness. He served as a mentor to many younger lawyers over his 40-year career at several prominent firms in the city of Atlanta.
Mr. Horne received his Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School (1976), earned a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University (1976), and a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Dartmouth College (1972), with distinction as a Senior Fellow.
Mr. Horne was an avid golfer, taking up the game later in life, at age 40. He had a strong passion for growing diversity in the sport and worked to enact positive change. During an interview done with the Atlanta Tribune in 2010, he acknowledged that he was encouraged to play golf by two senior partners at a law firm where he had previously worked. Up until then, baseball had been his favorite sport of choice having seen success as talented player for his high school team in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and then in college at Dartmouth, until an injury ended his aspirations of becoming a center fielder for Major League Baseball, according to a 2008 Daily Report profile.
In golf, Mr. Horne served as the former president of the National Minority Golf Foundation (NMGF) and served on the board of the AJGA (American Junior Golf Association). He served as a charter member on the World Golf Foundation Diversity Task Force and he was inducted into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame in 2008. During his time at the NMGF, Mr. Horne, along with the late Barbara Douglas, was an early supporter of The First Tee and assisted with many early staff recommendations. He sat on the board of The First Tee of John A. White Park, now The First Tee of Atlanta. Over the years Mr. Horne continued to support the organization.
Mr. Horne had over 35 years of experience in the corporate and securities and public finance arenas and has served in virtually every legal role in an assortment of public finance transactions across the nation. Mr. Horn’s life was filled with accomplishments. He was the first minority lawyer to serve on the board of directors of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL).
He maintained a traditional governmental finance practice and also assisted with financings for entities such as 501(c)(3) organizations, private universities and schools, and public and private hospitals. In addition to traditional bond and issuer’s counsel work, he had served as underwriter’s counsel and disclosure counsel for banks and investment banking firms in connection with bond issues, and was particularly attuned to federal securities considerations relating to public finance and other matters. Mr. Horne served as a gubernatorial appointee on the board of directors for Georgia Regents Health System, Inc., an academic medical center and comprehensive health system affiliated with the state medical school based in Augusta, Georgia.
Mr. Horne was honored at a Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority (FDHA) event on October 10, 2016, as part of FDHA’s 75th anniversary celebration that included a video interview about his role in helping restructure Grady Memorial Hospital, which FDHA oversees.
Mr. Horne represented the Development Authority of Fulton County, one of the most prolific issuers of local debt in the southeastern United States, in connection with the issuance of $15 billion in private activity, 501(c)(3) and taxable bonds for a variety of projects including hospitals, museums, schools, multifamily housing, retirement care, and commercial and industrial uses. Mr. Horne also represented the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority in connection with the review and implementation of a proposed restructuring plan, which led to the leasing of the facilities of Grady Health System, the largest hospital in Georgia, to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation created for the purpose of operating the hospital as a private nonprofit facility.
Mr. Horne was the first minority lawyer to serve on the board of directors of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (“NABL”), and was one of the first black lawyers in the country to be listed in the Bond Buyer’s Municipal Marketplace (the “Red Book”), a national directory of bond lawyers and law firms. He has held numerous leadership positions in public finance activities for the NABL and the American Bar Association. He spent 19 years as an Associate County Attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, and served as acting chief legal officer of the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority/Grady Health System on a 16-month loaned executive assignment. A former president of the National Minority Golf Foundation, Mr. Horne was inducted into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame in 2008.
Horne is survived by his wife, Audrey, his daughters Stephanie Horne and Sydney Langdon, her husband Joel, and his 1-year-old granddaughter, Cecily Langdon.
Funeral arrangements will be announced.
