Alice and Tom Horton may be gone, but they are not forgotten.
They weren’t a supercouple in the conventional sense. Instead, they were the loving parents and grandparents guiding the younger generations through their own romantic tribulations.
Everyone in Salem turned to them for advice and prayed that their marriages were as strong and loving as Alice and Tom’s.
Check out our Days of Our Lives slideshow tribute to Salem’s founding couple, then share your favorite Alice and Tom so we can all enjoy.
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Alice and Tom Meet in High School.
Alice and Tom were high school sweethearts who married in 1930 — 35 years before the first episode of Days of Our Lives ever aired.
Alice’s Empty Nest Syndrome
When youngest daughter Marie left the family home, Alice began to feel like the house was empty, though Tom was grateful for the time alone together.
Tommy Junior Turns Up Alive — As Mark Brooks
Tom and Alice believed their son Tommy Junior died in Korea, but he turned out to be alive. Unfortunately, he had amnesia and thought he was someone else — who was in love with Tommy’s younger sister Marie and vice versa. Fortunately, the young people had Tom and Alice to help them through it.
Laura’s Child With Bill
Alice and Tom’s sons, Bill and Mickey, fought over Laura Spencer. Mickey supposedly won out, but then Bill raped Laura. When she became pregnant, Tom agreed to keep the baby’s true parentage secret.
Addie Dies
Tom and Alice leaned on each other for support after their daughter Addie was killed in a car accident. Addie was trying to protect baby Hope at the time of her death.
Tom and Alice Raise Jennifer
Tom and Alice’s child-rearing days were not quite finished. When their daughter-in-law Laura developed schizophrenia and was unable to care for granddaughter Jennifer, Alice and Tom took over child-rearing duties.
Teenage Jennifer Turns to Her Grandparents Again
Jennifer became a wild teenager, living on the pier and getting herself in trouble. After her big brother Mike helped get her out of a sticky situation, she returned to living with Alice and Tom — and went through a series of boyfriends while she was there.
Alice’s Jailhouse Misadventure
Tom might not have been there, but he was definitely affected when Alice believed Roman Brady was NOT the Salem Slasher and offered the guards drugged donuts so she could break him out of jail!
Alice helps Bo block the roads.
Alice’s jailhouse misadventure continued when she helped Bo block the roads so Roman could escape. She ended up in jail herself, but that didn’t harm her relationship with Tom one bit.
Alice thinks Tom is having an affair.
Alice became convinced that Tom was leading a double life when he kept mysteriously disappearing at night. He was…but not with another woman! He was moonlighting as the beat poet Norm de Plume and performing love poems dedicated to Alice.
Alice Tries to Rescue Jennifer
It was a good thing Tom had his poetry to keep him busy, because Alice went to Europe with Jennifer to try to get her out of Lawrence Alamain’s clutches!
Alice Has a Stroke
Alice’s attempt to escape from Lawrence Alamain left her badly injured, and then some. She had a stroke by the end of this saga, but she was not quite ready to say goodbye to Tom and the rest of her family yet.
Tom and Alice’s Marriage Isn’t Legal
After 50 years of marriage, Tom and Alice discovered that their marriage had never been legal. Tom didn’t care, since he’d been living with his wife all this time, but Alice wanted him to take the problem seriously. She even threatened to leave if he didn’t.
Tom and Alice Remarry.
Eventually, Tom saw the wisdom of having a real wedding and he and Alice tied the knot for real, in front of all of their friends and family.
Tom and Alice Open the Horton Center
Tom and Alice wanted to give something back to their community. They opened the Horton Center, dedicated to helping runaway youth. The Horton Center is still open today; Eric works as a counselor there.
Tom Dies Peacefully in His Sleep
1994 was a sad year for soap fans as well as for Alice, as Macdonald Carey passed away from lung cancer. On air, Tom was said to have died in his sleep. But Tom and Alice’s love story was far from over.
Alice Sees Tom’s Ghost
The first Christmas after Tom’s passing was hard for Alice, as she saw Tom’s ghost when she hosted the annual Horton Christmas party by herself.
Alice Carries on Tom’s Legacy.
Alice moved forward as best as she could after Tom’s death, continuing to work at the Horton Center and to carry on the family tradition of gathering together at Christmas and welcoming new family members.
Alice’s Death
Alice’s health took a turn for the worse after her son Mickey died. In 2010, soon after Frances Reid’s real-life death, the entire Horton family gathered to say their final goodbyes.
A Memorial Plaque
In 2012, Days of Our Lives paid tribute to Alice and Tom by dedicating the brand new Horton Town Square to their memory. The memorial plaque sits in the center of the Square and the Hortons often visit it when they miss Alice. In fact, John and Marlena were married there in 2018 — and had a flashback of Alice when they did!
