Ada Matilda Horton
Ada Matilda Horton of Peconic, died peacefully on June 8, 2025 surrounded by family. She was 89 years old.
Ada was born on May 22, 1936 to John and Helen Purdy in Canandaigua, N.Y. She grew up on her family’s dairy farm with three siblings; John, Edith and Elizabeth. Ada loved all animals, but especially horses, and often rode her pony to the one room schoolhouse that she attended until grade 7. She then attended the Union School for one year before attending and graduating from the Canandaigua Academy in 1953.
Ada always had a thirst for adventure, and during the summer after high school, she joined a group of college students from Cornell University who were traveling to Guatemala in the back of a large box truck. This sparked a lifelong love of traveling. She then attended Buffalo State Teacher’s College, where she met her future husband, Robert Duane Horton, of Roslyn, N.Y. After graduating in 1957, Ada took a faculty position teaching Home Economics at Sayville Junior High. Ada and Duane were married on Aug. 2, 1958. They started their adventures together on a three-week honeymoon traveling across the country to Yellowstone National Park and down to the Grand Canyon. They had so much fun, the following year they traded their red convertible for a Volkswagen camper and spent the summer driving to Alaska.
Ada and Duane’s next adventure was buying a piece of property with “the most beautiful view on the North Fork,” and spending their weekends and summers building their dream home. The couple became members of the First Presbyterian Church of Southold and the American Legion as soon as they moved into their house, and being unable to withstand not singing, Ada immediately joined the church choir and The North Fork Chorale. They had two children, Chris and Elaine. Ada loved being a mom, and creating adventures for them. She had a strong work ethic and regularly utilized all the skills she learned growing up on the farm and as a Home Economics teacher; baking bread, sewing clothes and draperies, canning and freezing vegetables, leading 4-H groups, and entertaining friends – almost always singing or whistling as she worked. Ada loved nature, and she and Duane loved boating and hosting clambakes in the summers and snowmobiling in the Adirondacks in the winter. The more snow, the better! Their home was always open to family and friends, and filled with a comfortable sense of welcome and belonging.
As her children grew, and always wanting to keep busy and to try new things, she volunteered whenever a need arose, raised two dogs for the Seeing Eye Foundation, was a substitute teacher at Southold schools, a NY State Crop Reporting Agent, and a tour bus guide in the tri-state area. She picked grapes at the first winery on the North Fork, cultivated oysters, scooped frozen yogurt at TCBY and devoured NY Times bestsellers. Outings with her friends to see musicals or plays on Broadway were scheduled monthly on her calendar. Her sense of adventure never waned and Ada traveled to Europe multiple times and would hop in the car for a road trip or onto a plane to visit family and friends across the state or country whenever the opportunity arose.
Ada had five grandchildren; Rachel, Robert, Emma, Ryan and Erin. Nothing made her happier than having her grandchildren visit and being able to create fun and adventures for them. She adored babies and young children and enjoyed being a nanny for several families. Ada always chose to look at the bright side of life. She faced life’s challenges with resilience and her ability to always find joy and enjoyment. Ada was a lifelong and unwavering friend to so many. She believed in the power of positive thinking, that one could choose to be happy, and her cup was always full. She had a knack for embracing all the stages of life, right through to the end. She will be greatly missed.
Ada was predeceased by her husband, and two siblings, John Purdy and Edith Steele. She is survived by her sister, Elizabeth Purdy Schwarzweller; her children, Christopher Horton (Colleen Keen Horton) and Elaine Horton (David Gardiner); five grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; and step great-granddaughter.
There will be a memorial service at the First Presbyterian Church in Southold on Sunday, July 6 at 1 p.m. with the Rev. Peter Kelley officiating and a luncheon reception to follow. Memorial donations may be made to the Southold Presbyterian Church.
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