Submitted by: Dan Rich

Irene Horning

Nov. 18, 1927 - Dec. 12, 2008

South Bend Tribune 12/15/2008
SOUTH BEND - Irene "Renee" (Darmos) Horning, 81, of South Bend, died Friday afternoon in Memorial Hospital. Renee owned the Artwurks Gallery in South Bend, and was an adjunct professor of Fine Arts at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI, for three years. She attended Loyola University, Chicago, and she earned her BA in Fine Arts from Indiana University, Bloomington. Her master's degree in Fine Arts was conferred by Ohio University. In 1957 she was appointed the secretary to the Dean of the Business School at IU, Bloomington. In 1960 she was appointed the administrative secretary to the Dean of Overseas Programs at Ohio University, and in 1965 she was appointed the Chief Administrative Officer for the Society for the Study of Social Problems, an international professional organization, a post she held for over a decade. She took the newly founded organization from its fledgling beginnings to an internationally recognized professional society and one whose journal was ranked fifth among the professional journals in sociology. Her later years were spent in her art studio in her home as the fog of dementia slowly enveloped her and robbed her of her creative aptitude. Fortunately, she never lost the ability to appreciate fully the arts. Irene was born November 18, 1927, in South Bend, to George and Helen Darmos, who preceded her in death. Her eldest sister, Helen Wilkins, passed away in 2006. On June 15, 1957, in South Bend, she married Donald N.M. Horning, who survives along with a sister, Goldie Davis of North Port, FL.