Carl E. Horn

Carl graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1931 at the top of his class and at the bottom of the Depression. He came to San Francisco for his internship and a brief residency, then practiced industrial medicine. In 1938, he began a four-year orthopedic residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. On completion he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corp as Chief of Orthopedics at various facilities - including Torney General Hospital in Palm Springs, where I was assigned by the Army in 1945 and worked under him.

Carl came to Sacramento in 1946. There were too few orthopedists here, and no orthopedists to the north and east in the state. When I joined him in 1950, private orthopedic surgeons cared for patients in emergency rooms, including those at the Sacramento County Hospital. They hospitalized large numbers of patients in traction and body casts. Poliomyelitis cases were a significant portion of our practice. Carl, a prodigious worker, thrived in this busy atmosphere. He was smart, well-trained, had good judgment and made rapid decisions. He was an excellent and dexterous surgeon despite a right hand deformity from childhood poliomyelitis. He introduced hip cup arthroplasty to Sacramento.

Carl was president in 1958 of the then-Sacramento Society for Medical Improvement. While active in the usual professional orthopedic groups, he took pride in having been instrumental in founding the California Orthopedic Association. In later years, Carl was active in the World Medical Association, and led one of the first medical doctor groups to enter the USSR when travel restrictions eased. Of his many organizational activities, I believe he enjoyed most his years on the Mercy Hospital Board.

Carl enjoyed symphony music. In the 1950's he served on the board of the newly-founded Sacramento Symphony Association, and became its president for two terms.

Carl and his wife, Ruth, were founding members of the First Unitarian Church of Sacramento. He had a leading role in purchasing the land and developing the church and campus. Carl was also a long-time, vigorous fund raiser for the project - as I can personally attest.

Over the years his original office evolved into the Sacramento Valley Orthopedic Center. We were all surprised when Carl, at age 70, suddenly returned to solo practice; he maintained an active practice into his mid-80s. He was a capable golfer and liked to shoot pheasant in season, but rarely found the necessary time. His real joy was working with orthopedic patients.

Carl is survived by a daughter, Jacqueline Horn Bazzaroni of Stockton. A son, William, a dentist, preceded him in death. Some years after Ruth's death, when he was 70, Carl remarried and had two sons, Edward and Ken. When the marriage came apart, Carl raised the boys single-handedly and with unflagging energy.

His colleagues, friends and family honor him for a life well lived.

- by Max D. Shaffrath, MD