Mary Elizabeth Horton

Marybeth was born on November 10, 1962 to Lorraine (Nickels) Williams and Richard Williams of Lansing. She went to Lansing Public Schools and graduated from Lansing Eastern in 1980. After high school, Marybeth became a barber. Not only was Marybeth great at cutting your hair, she had that special gift of bringing warmth to your heart with that beautiful smile and the feeling she really cared how you were doing, lending you her shoulder to lean on through troubled times. We all can find a new barber, but her gift she shared will be a hole in our hearts until the day we join her through the Glory of God. Marybeth was blessed with a fruitful and fun life. Many, many fun times were shared with her Irish Twin sister Amy. They were always sharing their zeal for life with their family and friends. The two formed friendships that spanned 30, no, 40 years. One could not go to dinner with them and not know someone in the restaurant. Not that they just knew them, but were true friends. So many friends! The two would light up a room and that caught the eye of Tom Horton. After a few years of Tom not realizing what a special person he had, he fell in love and asked her to marry him in January of 1992. It took 3 years to have a daughter, Mary, with Sam following close behind in 1996. Being a Mom with that gift of sharing her love made her the best Mom one could have. Just ask James, Tom's son, who she met when he was three. All you have to do is know any of the three kids, and you will realize what a great gift she had being a Mom. She didn't stop there. Marybeth opened her heart that didn't miss a beat when she had the opportunity to be a Mom to a set of twin 16-year-old boys, James and Jeff. Her time with them was cut short, but her influence was great. They both thrived from her love, and she instilled in them what you had to do to be a good, moral, and caring person. A job well done, Marybeth. Very few can match her success in being a truly good person. Just ask those that met her while she was helping out at school or next to her in the stands cheering all five to win. Win the right way, with grace and respect. Teaching them to follow the rules, to be THE better person. Winning was important to her on a tennis court, but improving her game was her focus. Tennis was her passion. She not only loved the game but loved being with those she played with. Being a Spartan fan, it wasn't about the win, it was about the people she tailgated with. She always brought her smile, that was contagious, or maybe it was the vim. Marybeth is the grandmother of Jame's three children, Jack, Kate, and Lila. When they were babes, she spent many hours with them baking banana bread, playing games, and wiping runny noses. Again, look at how her gift influenced these wonderful grandchildren. They couldn't ask for a better GG. Nor could the many dogs she loved through the years, with Molly being the one that is left and she is brokenhearted. Marybeth traveled all over the world, up north, to ski, but the Lake was a place she loved to go to. She made the cottage a place everyone enjoyed because her gift made her the best host one could find on Thornapple Lake. Marybeth was her sister's best friend, her daughter's confidant, compass, and friend, and that filled her son's heart with love. GG's tender care will be missed by the grandbabes that knew her today but will be missed by those future babes who will miss out on her gift of love that she shared with us all. Thank you, Marybeth. We are all better people because of you. Marybeths funeral is Saturday, December 17. There will be a visitation at 1:00, with the service starting at 1:30 at St Martha's Catholic Church, 1100 W. Grand River Rd, Okemos. Funeral home visitation will be at Gorsline Runciman Tiffany Chapel, 3232 West Saginaw St, Lansing MI on Thursday, December 15th from 5:30 to 8:00 and Friday from 3:30 to 8:00. Even though Marybeth loved flowers, please consider instead donating to Eli’s Project ([email protected]) Marybeth would prefer you help this new organization get on their feet to prevent teenage suicide.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.tiffanyfuneralhome.com for the Horton family.