John Horejsi, founder of Social Action Linking Together (SALT), died of cancer Aug. 4. at age 83.
Horejsi was born June 9, 1940, in Bechyn, Minn., the fourth son of Anton Wenceslaus Sr. and Ann Frank Horejsi. He was the first in his family to attend college and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s in political science. Later, he received a graduate degree, a double master’s degree in social work and a master’s in public administration from the University of Missouri.
Horejsi moved to Vienna in 1974 to work in professional development and technical assistance with the Office of Family Assistance Welfare Management Institute.
In the 1980s, Horejsi began dedicating his own time to addressing the structural causes of poverty, first as a volunteer member of the Arlington Catholic Charities board and then as founder of SALT, a nonpartisan network of people advocating for social justice issues. For nearly 40 years, Horejsi led SALT advocates in many concrete efforts such as ending the sales tax on Food Stamps, passage of the Homeless Intervention Program, and the Virginia Earned Income Tax Credit. Other SALT accomplishments under his leadership include increasing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, benefits for eligible Virginians and the ending of shackling women prisoners during labor.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Mark Church in Vienna at 11 a.m. Aug. 21.
