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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEagle Editorial - Kitty I I t \, I I I 'Il 1 ~ ~~ I I 1= , IIf ~ . fIII4 '0 I 'K----" i.tty Worley was a teach~r whose, classroom never closed, a community vol- :unteer who never said no and a friend.to so many who will miss her love, her guidance and her J-.4 - support 'She died much too soon O Friday at the age of 83 and the world is a little less full because . the children of the two families books with her, she gave them to' r .~ she has left it. . . played together often. "I can' the children. If not, she would ~ For 32 years, Worley taught remember sitting in their living take down their address and College Station school children, room pIaying games for hours on mail them books when she got = seven years as a second-grade end," Boykin said, adding, "Mrs. home. , t?acher and 2~ years as an Eng- Worley had the only house I've I Throughout her life, Worley .. lIsh an~ SpanIs~ teacher ~t A&M ever seen where half the kitchen -was dedicated to young people' ,-"ConsolIdated HIgh School. cabinets were filled with games and to learning. She helped I Anne Boykin of College Sta- and not pots and pans." organize Camp Howdy, where · ~ tion was in Worley's sec?nd- Worley's son Fred remembers thousands of Girl Scouts have . grade dass at the old ConsolIdat- a summer when.a child came to camped over the years. Peggy ed Elementary School, where the the family home with a bucket of Calliham of College Station was Barbara Bush Center now is blackberries he had picked along in Worley's Girl Scout troop and located., "She was just the sweet- the railroad tracks. Worley told remembers many weekend cam- "est teacher," Boykin said. "She him she would buy the entire pouts led by Worley and her i sat and read to us eyerY single bucket if the boy would come in devoted husband of 62 years, I book in the Winnie the Pooh and read to her. He did and she Will. "It was quite a treat for us I series until' her voice was bought all his berries. The next to go on thos~ eampouts," Calli- I absolutely hoarse, ~cting out week, he said, a dozen or so chil- ham said, recalling one when it each part, and we Just loved dren showed up, each with a was so cold that ice formed. "We I that," ~oYkin said Monday. bucket of berries. Worley made were'. tougher' than the Boy Boykm recalled Worley's tal- the same deal to all the children: Scouts because they left early, I ent for signing, noting she would read a story to her and she V'{ould but we stayed because of Will break into song throughout the buy their berries. and Kitty." . day. At the time, Worley was "One Saturday we were com- While many girls in her troop .. pregnant and her students were ing home from the grocery store dropped out, Calliham and a ,-"excited about the impending and there sat about two dozen core group of her friends stayed 'birth. "She was singing, with her kids ,on the curb, each with a all the way through high school, ,..... \ head back, and all of a sudden bucket of berries," Fred Worley with Worley as their leader the - \",J she jumped up and started gag- said. His mother kept her word, entire time. "She was such a C'd iging. She ran outside because buying a lot of berries that day. unique and enthusiastic per- ~she had swallowed a fly. We "We had some great cobblers," son," Calliham said, adding that .,..c= were so terribly disappointed daughter Evalyn said with a Worley encouraged Calliham because we thought the baby laugh. and her friends to travel by train was- coming," Boykin said. She Reading was such an impor- to a Girl Scout Roundup in Ver- also remembers Worley jumping tant part of Worley's life. Even mont, the fIrst time any of them ~ .1 rope and roller skating with the after she retired, she, worked had been out of Texas, "maybe ~ children at school. with the high school Key Club to even Brazos County," she said. ~ \ .' Although Boykin didn't have collect books to be distributed to "With her guidance and inspi- ".., IWorley in high school, she children, collecting and giving ration, she taught us we'could do I Iremembers walking down the away more than a thousand. anything. She taught us leader- · '-------... 'hall at lunchtime and seeing Fred Worley recalls eating in ship, responsibility and the ,... IWorley tutoring students in Austin restaurants with his fam- importance of making a differ- o Spanish. "I don't think the poor. ily. He said his mother would ence in your community," Calli- ~ "she was, a book in one hand and dren, and she was convinced the Eyerything for Worley was an . ~::l::r fu::~:~:h~:: ::~::d: :::::: .. ::ca:~ OPPOrtunl~. Every totally devoted to her students.". had books. So she would go over, summer, the family would va~- t Boykin's childhood. home" sit with them and chat about the tion in her native Delaware. "We tjl backed ~p 10 fue worley:. and importance of reading. If she had always .topped al Philadelphia, .~f . ~ , . The Eagle . Jim Wilson Publisher Donnis Baggett Editor-in-Chief Robert C. Borden Opinions Editor editboard@theeagle.com. .. ~ o . .- ~ ~ .- a. o ='. o t;I} - t;I} 'aJ I ( Washington, D.C., Tennessee, in competitions. ~- '\ New York City or Williamsburg Evalyn said her mother swam ,on 'th~ 'way," Evalyn Worley the backstroke. "She wasn't very said. "We thought that was nor- fast, 1>ut she won a lot of medals mal' for all families. We . didn't because there wasn't much com-. realize how lucky, we were until petition," she laughed. we had children of our own," she Worley also understood the said. importance of giving back to the For the past decade, Fred Wor- community. She was active in so ley has led mission trips to Mex- many organizations, from 'OP AS ico alc,mg the border with Texas. at A&M, to StageCenter, where There, he and his crew worked she was named volunteer of the in clinics or doirlg construction decade. She volunteered count- work. Kitty Worley went along less hours with the Brazos Val- . with projects she had prepared ley Symphony Orchestra and its for the children. "Very often we support guild, as well as the would look up and there, coming Friends of Chamber Music. She out of a cardboard shanty, was was active in Literacy Volun- my mother with several children teers of America, the Barbara I behind her," he said, noting that Bush Cep.ter for Child Literacy, his mother used the story of the the Kiwanis Club, Delta Kappa Little Engine that Could to teach Gamma and Brazos County the message of Jesus Christ to" Retired Teachers, serving as . . ' . I _~ )t.~. '.l.",!-" - IV, - -- ' ., children. chaplam for several groups and Worley wasn't just interested producing newsletters for oth- in education for children, ers. She and Will loved concerts though. For years, she worked" and Gilbert and Sullivan1proQ.uc- I with Spanish-speaking Aggies tions. Every Friday night for who arrived during the summer years they went dancing. ' I to work on their English skills.' No doubt Worley's efforts were I She even arranged dates for the guided by her strong faith. She foreign Aggies so they could was an elder at Covenant Pres- practice their language skills in byterian Church in College Sta- a social situation. tion and taught Sunday School ' I'" Anne Boykin said Worley there and Vacation ijible School introduced her brother to his at the old A&M Presbyterian I future wife, an Aggie from Church. She loved to sing, espe- . . Venezuela who was getting help ciall)1' hymns. Morning Has Bro- I , from Worley o'n her English ken was her favprite, and she I skills. ' would get Will to sing it to her in t The Worleys loved t~ travel to the hospital in Houston, oldest ' : places such as Bogota, Colombia daughter Eleanor \ Jordan said. ~ 1 and La Paz, Bolivia. For 14 sum: After one grueling session, as I mers, Worley took her high s~e was coming. out of anesthe- ~ school Spanish students to Mexl- SIa, Worley aSke,d one of ~he I co City to study the language and attendants to smg Amazmg ~ the culture. She and her hus" Grace, something he had never I band, Will, stayed in 23 Elder.' been asked to do in more than I hostels throughout AmeriCa and . two decades at St. Luke's Hospi- the world'. Worley kept detailed tal in Houston. He sang it, scrappooks of visits to the Holy !hough, and J?rd~ said, "It was Land, Japan and Europe. She Just gorgeous. and Will traveled to Florida Cal- Memorial services for Worley ifornia and Chicago to sWhn in will be. at 2 p.m. today at masters swim meets.,,;, 'C~~, ,Cov~n~nt Pr~~byterian, ,Crutch Many people know Will Wor- in College Station. What a huge ley is a masteri~swimlliei' D!but !,""hol~!b.e~i<l~J:!th:.l~x.e~ w-rtll-@r~m- ~ I fewer know th~tKitiY, ~?,~~~, munity and..~ ~~, hearts. -1 I I I .'1 I .., . 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