This obituary has been placed on our website as a courtesy to the Kermit and Annie Horne Family. They are not just any family, they are my family. Kermit was a Hamilton County business man back in the day when I-75 first opened the SR 6 interchange and he built Restaurant/Hotel accommodations at that location. Aunt Annie was his business partner and loyal wife of 67 years. They are Uncle Kermit and Aunt Annie to locals Richard Williams (Juana) and Serena Creech (Gerald) of Jasper.

Annie Lee Kerce Horne, 86, of Lake City, passed away peacefully on Monday morning, April 18, 2022, after an extended illness. She was born in Starke, Florida, on November 17, 1935, to the late P.J. Kerce and Mildred Louise Phillips Kerce. She has lived most of her life in the Lake City area and was a member of the Hopeful Baptist Church. She served as a corporate leader and board member for the company that developed and managed hotels in Lake Buena Vista, Orlando, and other Florida locations. As a partner in business with her husband, she developed Florida residential and commercial communities and in her spare time enjoyed entertaining associates and friends from around the world. She is preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Kermit Ray Horne, Sr.; and her brother, George A. Kerce.

She is survived by her daughters, Cathy Horne and Patti Horne Bass (Billy); sons, Ray Horne (Susan) and Joe Horne (Liliana); brothers, Johnny Kerce (Myrtle) and P.J. Kerce, Jr.; sisters, Margie Markham, Mary Greene (L.N.), Linda Harris (James), and Goldie Hudson (Wayne). Six grandchildren along with numerous extended family members and friends also survive.

A Celebration of Life for Mrs. Horne was conducted on Thursday afternoon, April 21, 2022, at Hopeful Baptist Church with Dr. Billy Young, Rev. Tommy Hudson and Mr. David Greene officiating. Interment followed in the church cemetery.

Services were under the care of Gateway-Forest Lawn Funeral Home in Lake City, FL.