The wheelchair curling family lost a valued member on January 20th. George Horning was sixty two. He was the reigning 2014 Nova Scotia Wheelchair Curling Champion and played out of Lakeshore Curling Club in Nova Scotia. Horning moved to Nova Scotia in 2012 after he retired. A chance phone call brought him to throw a few rocks at Lakeshore while traveling and he decided to spend his retired life there.
Cornwall stick curlers will remember George from the Canadian Stick Curling Championships at our Club in April 2013, where he curled with another wheelchair curler, Lauchie Rutt.
Photo: George Horning delivers a rock at the Cornwall Curling Club
George Horning was born in Whitehorse YT and lived most of his life in Winnipeg. He represented Manitoba at the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championships on a number of occasions. He won a gold medal in 2011 in Edmonton while playing for Manitoba.
George found he had cancer shortly before the 2014 Nova Scotia Provincial Wheelchair Playdowns where he skipped a team. He insisted on playing and skipped his team to the Championship. He entered radiation therapy immediately following the win. Despite failing health he, again, insisted on playing in the 2014 Canadian National Championship in Montreal. He entered chemotherapy upon his return and had been unable to play this season.
He will be missed by his special friend Mary Commo; his relatives and team mates.