A large crowd of family, friends and colleagues gathered on Wednesday for a dedication ceremony that the honoree surely would have hated.
At least that’s what those who knew Don Horneck best said during the ceremony at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center (HAREC). The gathering was to dedicate the Don Horneck Memorial Building, honoring the man who served as a soil scientist and agronomist at HAREC for 15 years. Horneck passed away in September 2014 at the age of 56.
“We all lost on the day he died,” said Phil Hamm, HAREC director. “He did so much for the community as a friend, as a colleague and much more.”
Horneck’s wife, Vicki, thanked those in attendance and expressed her gratitude for the effort to memorialize her husband.
“My family is overwhelmed at all the things done in memory of Don,” she said. “This will keep his memory going for those who knew him and those who didn’t.”
She then added that Horneck would not have been pleased at the pomp and circumstance on display in his honor. Hamm agreed.
“Don would have thought all this was ridiculous,” he said, but added Horneck would have loved the benefits to growers that will come from the research building.
The state-of-the-art building houses an agronomy lab, insect rearing rooms, a tissue culture room and a room to store equipment. Hamm said the $300,000 building was paid for by contributions from many in the agricultural community and beyond. A total of $60,000 was donated by the Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences, but the rest came from those who knew and worked with Horneck.
“This is a dream of his,” Hamm said, adding that Horneck was looking forward to working in the new agronomy lab.
“This facility is a tremendous addition to this research and extension center and will significantly aid staff to provide new research based information to the regions agriculture community,” Hamm said.
“Bittersweet” was how Bryan Wolfe described Wednesday’s ceremony for Horneck.
“What we had to lose to get this building, I wouldn’t have lost if I had a choice,” he said.
Horneck’s legacy lives on not only through the new research building at HAREC, but also through the Don Horneck Memorial Scholarship that was established shortly after his death last year. Money from the fund will be used to support graduate or undergraduate students in agronomy or soils at Oregon State University. Charlie Clupny presented a check from the Hermiston Lions Club for more than $25,000 to go toward the scholarship fund.
