Order of the Fleur de Lis names award recipient

St. Stephen Parish member C. Michael Horten is given prestigious honor

The East Tennessee Catholic

C. Michael Horten, left, of St. Stephen Parish in Chattanooga, Order of Fleur de Lis grand chancellor Stephen Koach, and Monsignor Lanaux Rareshride, right, are shown with the Benjamin I. Kiper Award. (Photo courtesy of C. Michael Horten)

C. Michael Horten, a member of St. Stephen Parish in Chattanooga, has received the Benjamin I. Kiper Award from the Order of Fleur de Lis.

Mr. Horten received the award on Aug. 24 during the order’s annual banquet. The award is named for the man who initiated the effort to develop the Order of the Fleur de Lis. Mr. Kiper was invested with the Knight Commander Cross in 1970.

The Benjamin I. Kiper Award acknowledges the contributions by a Knight Commander who has exhibited excellence in his love of Church, family, country, and the order.

Commander Horten was invested with the Knight Commander Cross in 2003 in Little Rock, Ark. During his 21 years of service with the order, commander Horten has served as grand scribe and grand chancellor. Currently, he publishes the order’s newsletter, Herald.

Commander Horten and his wife, Phyllis, reside in Ringgold, Ga. They have two sons, Christopher (Katie) Horten and Jeff (Allyson) Cornell. They have two grandsons, Joshua and Jacob Cornell, and a granddaughter, Elizabeth Joan Horten.

The Order of the Fleur de Lis is an organization of Catholic men incorporated under the laws of the state of Louisiana as a not-for-profit organization. The order’s domain is the five-state region of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Objectives of the order include supporting and defending the Catholic Church and its teachings; promoting patriotism and good citizenship, encouraging public morality, and unselfish service to God and country. Additional objectives are assisting and publicizing the activities of other organizations that also promote patriotism and good citizenship, the encouragement of public morality, and unselfish service to God and country; memorializing and popularizing the memories and achievements of Catholic leaders in religion, the arts and sciences, philanthropy, education, exploration and archeology, government and international relations, medicine and jurisprudence, and other established professions.

The Order of the Fleur de Lis encourages and recognizes leadership in living the values and principles of the Catholic faith by presenting the Monsignor Joseph Susi Award of Honor to an individual who has excelled as a Catholic leader in any one of the following: religion, family values, youth, aging, politics, patriotism, the arts and sciences, education, philanthropy, public morality, management-labor, the media, or medicine and jurisprudence.

Other Knight Commanders in the Diocese of Knoxville include Father John Orr, pastor of Holy Ghost Parish in Knoxville; Deacon Paul Nelson, who serves at St. Jude Church in Chattanooga; Deacon Sean Smith, who serves as chancellor of the Diocese of Knoxville and at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Lenoir City; Deacon David Duhamel, executive director of Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, who also serves at St. Mary Church in Oak Ridge; Raleigh E. Cooper III; Ronnie Holmes; Paul Simoneau, who serves as vice chancellor of the Diocese of Knoxville; Eric J. Pelton; Victor Williams; and Michael Wills.

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