CLEARWATER, Fla. — Longtime Clearwater City Manager Bill Horne died "unexpectedly," according to the city.
Horne died Saturday afternoon of a suspected heart attack, city leaders said in a release. He was 72.
Horne served as city manager for more than two decades, the release said, and he was "looking forward" to retiring Sept. 3.
He is survived by his wife Loretta.
"Our thoughts are with his wife, Loretta, during this difficult time," city leaders said in a release, "as well as other family members."
Horne grew up in Tulsa during segregation, and recently spoke to 10 Tampa Bay to mark 100 years since the Tulsa race massacre.
"We're now entering a period in this country and in various communities where we are going to talk about the issue of race, the legacy of racism and how it's, how that legacy is impacting us even today," he said in May 2021.
That legacy followed him to his role with the city of Clearwater as he managed the city's response to the discovery of lost two lost African American cemeteries--one at the site of the old Curtis Fundamental School at Holt and Engman, another at FrankCrum along Missouri Avenue.
A retired U.S. Air Force colonel, city leaders say he began working with the city in 1998 as the general support services administrator. In 1999, he became assistant city manager.
"He was a military man, so he always knew what the mission was, and you complete the mission. It's harder to do without him. But we'll complete the mission," said Mayor Frank Hibbard.
In July 2000, he was named interim city manager and assumed the position fully in 2001.
"Yesterday we lost a patriot, mentor, leader, public servant, veteran, and role model. I lost my friend," Hibbard said Saturday in a statement. "Our community was richer for having Bill Horne and today we are poorer for having lost him. His impact in Clearwater and beyond will live on tangibly and in our hearts. Rest In Peace my friend."
City leaders say Assistant City Manager Michael Delk will be acting city manager until the city council can take action. That will happen Monday.
Funeral arrangements for Horne are pending, the release said.
"I feel better knowing that his faith was strong and that he is with his Maker now," said Hibbard.