Margaret Elizabeth Horsey, proud foster mother
Margaret Elizabeth Horsey, née Messick, 95, of Georgetown, formerly of Smyrna, passed from this life Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, at home surrounded by family and loved ones.
Margaret was born in Georgetown in 1926 to George Harold Messick and Thelma Jane Burks Messick. She graduated from Georgetown High School, where the drama club encouraged a lifelong appreciation of classical literature and the performing arts. As a young woman, special wartime nurse’s training in Wilmington founded an enduring interest in medicine. Beginning with her marriage in 1948 and moving to Smyrna, Margaret lived the demanding life of a farmer’s wife. Following a devastating fire in 1966 that destroyed their farmhouse, she and her husband built the home where she was to remain until 2001. During her years in Smyrna, Margaret raised her own family and cared for many others. She was particularly proud of being a foster mother. When widowed in 1987, Margaret worked at Staats Gas in Smyrna for a decade, until she retired and moved to Georgetown to be near family. Margaret was a member of Asbury Methodist Church in Smyrna and of Grace UMC in Georgetown. She was active in the PTA and the Duck Creek Sportsman’s Club, and was a lifelong member of the Smyrna Grange. Margaret was known for her bountiful table that served family, friends, hunters, and laborers on the farm, and for her pies, fudge and jellies generously provided for charity fundraisers and lovingly given as gifts.
Margaret was predeceased by her husband of 39 years, Earle Theodore (Ted) Horsey, her firstborn and greatly mourned child, George Earle Horsey (6/26/49-6/27/49); brothers, Hugh Willard Messick and Granville Everett (George) Messick; and sisters, Evelyn Mae Messick, Thelma Jane White (Murray) and Eleanor Virginia Johnson (W. Layton).
She is survived by her sister, Martha Ellen Trimper; and daughters, Etta Jane Clendaniel and Virginia Lyn Horsey. She also leaves behind beloved foster sons and daughters, especially Tammy Klemko Stewart, Steven Klemko, and Joseph Zafaris; as well as loyal friends and caregivers Linda McKeown and Lillie Upshur.
A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 15, in the chapel of Short Funeral Services, 609 E. Market St., Georgetown. A time of visitation for family and friends will begin at noon. Interment will immediately follow at Barratt’s Chapel Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to Grace UMC, 7 S. King St., Georgetown, DE 19947, Asbury UMC, 2 W. Mt. Vernon St., Smyrna, DE 19977, or Delaware Hospice, 100 Patriots Way, Milford, DE 19963.
Online condolences are welcome at shortfuneralservicesandcremation.com.
