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For Delores Horn, preserving a legacy stems from a life of love, fierce determination, a fond connection to the Meijer family and Meijer Gardens, and now the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Foundation.

Delores devoted her entire professional career to Meijer, taking her first job on the third shift in the warehouse. There, she worked full-time while studying for her degree in advertising and marketing. Her dream? “To own my own home.”

Within a few years, she took a merchandising assistant position in the Meijer corporate office, where she grew into her role while creating a sense of community with the folks around her, including Fred Meijer and Earl Holton.

“Meijer is such a good place filled with good people. They were very supportive.”

While in her role at Meijer, Delores bravely battled cancer. Though she beat it, she found herself out of shape and knew that she needed to turn her life around.

So, she started running with her late husband, Reg—a longtime employee of Meijer himself. Mile by mile, she grew stronger, got healthier, and found a love for long-distance running. "Reg and I ran a marathon in every U.S. state, including Washington, D.C., and along the way, we took the opportunity to sightsee in every city we ran."

On her last day of work upon retirement in 1997, Fred Meijer personally thanked her and said goodbye.

She and Reg moved to South Carolina to enjoy their retirement and her husband’s love of golf. But after Reg’s unexpected passing in 2014, Delores returned to Michigan, where her children still lived. “For me, Michigan is my home.”

Within Meijer Gardens, Delores found a place filled with beauty, wonder, and the devotion and generosity she’d always admired from the Meijer family. Her family has created many special memories there, including celebrating her granddaughter’s wedding in the Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory. “I love all of it—the butterflies, the concerts, the trees. They do such a wonderful job with all the events, too.” Just as Delores had felt supported by the Meijer company and family during her working years, she decided to give a lasting legacy gift by donating to the Foundation’s Perennial Society in 2024. She also established a named, unrestricted fund free to use as the cultural institution grows and evolves.

A couple years ago, her cancer came back—but Delores was ready to fight. While she was jogging on the White Pine Trail one day, she met Jack, a man who was battling pancreatic cancer. “We said, ‘If we make it through this, we’ll go skydiving.’ Although it seemed silly, it gave us something to work towards. A way to celebrate life.”

As it turns out, no less than a week before she was interviewed for this article, at age 86, Delores, Jack, her daughter, and two grandsons jumped out of a plane 14,000 feet above Grand Haven. Two cancer survivors, one promise, and a whole lot more life to live.

Today, Delores is still running between three and five miles three days a week, and wholeheartedly supporting Meijer Gardens and the Foundation. When asked why she gives to the Foundation, she says, “Anyone can do it. I’m not anybody important or special, but I care about this place, and the Foundation cares a lot. They appreciate the donors and treat them so well. I’m happy to give what I can to ensure it will be here for my family long into the future. It’s such a wonderful place.”