Leo Horacek

Leo Horacek, 107, of Morgantown, died Thursday, July 16, 2026 in Moundsville, W.Va.
He was born April 21, 1919 in Topeka, Kans., the son of Leo and Clara Miller Horacek.
As a teenager he played trumpet in the Topeka High School Band and Orchestra and in Marshall’s Band of Topeka. He received a music education degree from the University of Kansas in 1941 and joined the Navy, where he became a flight instructor and fighter pilot, flying combat missions in both the Mediterranean and Japan.
After the war he returned to KU, where he taught music and eventually received a PhD. He taught in the schools of Ellis, Kansas, Central Missouri State College and at West Virginia University from 1960 until his retirement in 1982. In retirement, he taught over 100 classes in Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) in Morgantown and returned to flying. He was a flight instructor, private pilot and occasionally flew for WVU.
He was a founding member of St. Thomas a Becket Episcopal Church and its choir director for many years.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Margot Baker Horacek; and second wife, Cora Sue Canning Horacek; and sons, Robert and Tom.
Surviving are his son, Louis (Marilyn) Horacek; his daughter-in-law, Valerie Nussear; and grandchildren, Elizabeth Horacek, Alison (Drew Brubaker) Nussear, Caroline Horacek, Katherine Horacek, Samantha (Albert) Wilson, Stephen (Genevieve Donahey) Horacek, and William (Elisha Rush) Horacek. He had one great-granddaughter, Mary-Claire Brubaker.
A memorial service will be held in St. Thomas a Becket Episcopal Church, Morgantown, at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 2.
He chose to donate his body to West Virginia University Medical School.