Helen Horn may be gone but a part of her will live on in the hearts of all those she touched in the South Cariboo.
Horn, who celebrated her 100th birthday in September, lived a full life as a wife, mother, rancher, educator, community advocate and adventurer.
Born on her parents’ homestead in Lone Butte 100 years ago, Helen was the daughter of a farmer-rancher who went on to marry a farmer-rancher. She worked the farm all her life until retirement and when asked what she enjoyed the most about it, joked there wasn’t time to think of joy in those days and instead she would simply wake up with a job that needed doing and she’d set herself to doing it, as simple as that.
“Time went by quickly and every year had a spring, a fall, winter and a summer and we did the best we could with what we had,” Helen said.
Helen was the oldest of five children born to Ellis and Bertha Granberg. Her early years were spent in Roe Lake and Lone Butte where she was the family babysitter and looked after her siblings when her mother was outside doing chores.
READ MORE: Helen Horn climbs the Lone Butte at 96 with help from friends and family
Helen’s father opened a store in Lone Butte and at 15 she started working there. Located next door was the Lone Butte Hotel owned by Anna Horn, Chris Horn’s mother. The two young people were friends and over time they began to see each other in a different light.
Chris lived outside of town and courting Helen meant he was forever riding back and forth to see her. He often joked that he “killed a horse chasing after her.”
The couple were married in 1948 and their son, Gus, was born 10 years later.
The first year of their marriage was hard. The fields were too wet to harvest so the newlyweds were forced to sell the cattle. They bought a sawmill and invested in forestry to help make ends meet over the years.
The transition from shopkeeper to ranch wife was challenging for Helen. There were the crews to cook for plus the farm animals to take care of in addition to the usual chores involved in running a household.
Chris’s father and his wife lived two miles up the road and were not well. Helen remembered putting Gus in a basket and going over to spend time with them.
In an interview with Sherry Stewart in the Interlaker in 2006, Helen said that she handled all those responsibilities as she had to.
“Today at my age, I couldn’t even do it. But that was many years ago and you think you were capable of almost anything. Modern convenience certainly help - just the fact of having electricity, septic system and running water in the house makes such a big difference. And of course transportation is so much easier today.”
Her longtime friend Joanne Levick attended Helen’s 100th birthday celebration this year. She recalled meeting Helen for the first time saying she was friendly and did not hesitate to engage in any conversation.
“I always thought it would be nice to live next door to her. She’d make a damn good neighbour to be close to,” Levick said.
Helen was a mainstay at the farmers’ market, educated the community on the benefits of growing hemp and was an active member of her community.
Helen was also a founding member of the Interlakes CattleBelles which honoured her for her long-standing membership at its 40th anniversary celebration in October.
People lined up to say hello and chat with her throughout the evening. When asked why she did all things she did over the years Helen’s answer was that when “things need to be done, you just do it.”
Chris slipped away peacefully in 2015 leaving Helen and Gus to run the ranch. But it wasn’t all work and after she retired, with the help of the people in her life, Helen did her best to keep her mind and body happy and healthy.
READ MORE: Chris Horn: a man to remember
In the fall of 2016, Gus presented his mother with a nine-day rafting trip down the Fraser River. For the then 93-year-old pioneer, “it was the trip of a lifetime.”
It was on the third day of the trip Helen was surprised to see a group of 35 people who had travelled two hours on rough gravel roads to their location near Churn Creek to help celebrate her 93rd birthday.
She was a bit choked up as she said, “to think that all those people came all the way from 100 Mile.”
This was not the end of Helen’s adventures. Three years later, at 96, Helen climbed the Lone Butte with the help of family and friends.
This was not the first time she had hiked the Butte but this time needed some assistance in the form of rappelling equipment and a piggyback from young Dawson Schroevers.
“I did as I was told and I enjoyed every minute of it,” she said. “(At the top) we toasted the day, the people and the encouragement of everybody because without that I could never have made the journey.”
Helen passed away Nov. 22, 2023 at the age of 100. She is survived by her son Gus.