Myron E. Horlacher

COLUMBIA — Myron Edwin Horlacher, 92, passed away peacefully Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Columbia. Visitation will be held one hour prior to services at the church. Burial with military honors will follow in the St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church cemetery.

Born Feb. 22, 1920, in Poplar Bluff, Mo., Myron was the son of the late William E. and Mary Elizabeth Mast Horlacher. He was one of five children and moved with his family to Sumter when he was a young boy. In January 1942, he joined the U.S. Army, Company G, 18th Infantry. Myron served with distinction during World War II and was a D-Day survivor. He earned the grade of technical sergeant and participated in campaigns in Algeria-French Morocco, Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland and Ardennes. He was a Purple Heart recipient and also earned a Bronze Star, Unit Citation Badge with Oak Leaf cluster and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign (EAMET) service medal. He often said that the reason he had to have knee replacement surgery later in life was because he had walked through so many countries in Europe and North Africa. Like so many men of his generation, Myron never liked to talk very much about the war, but his family knew from his occasional remarks that he had been in intense combat and always served his country and fellow soldiers with dignity and bravery.

After the war, Myron returned to South Carolina, where he met and fell in love with Dorothy Elizabeth Shealy. They married in June 1950 and celebrated 62 years of marriage this year. Myron worked for Pillsbury for a number of years and relocated to several states during his tenure with the company, but moved back to South Carolina in the mid-sixties. In 1968 he founded Columbia Business Forms and served as its president and CEO until his retirement about five years ago. Myron loved working with people, never met a stranger and continued to go to his office until he could no longer drive. In his 40s, Myron also found the love of golf and continued to play every week well into his 80s. He was extremely proud of the fact that he shot his age on his eightieth birthday, a testament to his no-quit personality. He was a member of The Country Club of Lexington.

Myron was a faithful and active member of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church for many decades, serving on the Church Council and various committees. He developed an especially close friendship with Pastor John Trump and always looked forward to his visits after he became homebound.

Myron is survived by his wife, Dorothy; his two daughters and sons-in-law, Linda Carpenter (Don) and Janet Pulaski (Mike); his four grandchildren, Heather Pulaski Cannon (Ronnie), Bradley Pulaski (Ashley), Caleb Pozsik and Joshua Edwin Pozsik; and three great-grandchildren, Jonathan, Rachel and Matthew Cannon. He is also survived by his many beloved nieces and nephews. Myron was predeceased by all of his siblings, Theda Armstrong, Jim Horlacher, Anna Newton and Lillian Ruth Kinney.

The family would like to express its gratitude to those who compassionately cared for Myron at NHC Lexington, Wildwood Downs and Palmetto Health Hospice.

Memorials in Myron’s honor may be made to the St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church Memorial Fund, 1416 Broad River Road, Columbia SC 29210.

Shives Funeral Home of Columbia, shivesfuneralhome.com, is assisting the family. (803) 754-6290.