Long before he became a pillar of the local banking community , Walter Fant Worthington , 90 , had the soul of a cowboy and preferred the rip-snortin ’, hoof-poundin ’ life of the rodeo arena . At 15 , he took up bull riding , pitting his courage and grit against flesh-and-blood tornadoes bent on bucking him off and if at all possible , slipping a horn between his ribs . At 16 , he turned professional and competed in rodeos all over Texas and Oklahoma and in Denver and Baton Rouge . “ I didn ’ t ever win much money ,” Worthington said , adding he was in it for the fun and adventure . And 1940s rodeoing offered plenty of both . Though he did see a man killed in the arena , he himself fared fairly well , breaking only five ribs and getting ran over just the one time .
Worthington is the grandson of W . S . Fant who came to Texas from South Carolina in the late 1800s .
“ He was 16 years old ,” said Worthington . “ He rode a mule from South Carolina to here .” With the slightest of grins he added , “ I imagine it was a long , rough ride .”
The maternal grandfather busied himself with various enterprises before hiring on at First National Bank of Weatherford . He became president of the bank in 1903 and served in that capacity for 38 years .
Worthington ’ s father , Joseph Lewis Worthington , and his brothers migrated to Jacksboro from Topeka , Kan ., in the early ‘ 20s . His father worked for First National Bank of Jacksboro and later became the Texaco agent of that area until his death . As for the brothers , one owned a large ranch north of Jacksboro and the other picture shows , one called the Opera House . “ You had to go upstairs to get to it ,” Worthington recalled . “ Those places were very popular in those days — in the ‘ 30s and ‘ 40s and ‘ 50s .”
Tracing the family roots in the Lone Star State even further back , Worthington mentioned Edward Eastburn , an uncle of his father , who arrived in Texas the year before the Civil War ended — 1864 .
Asked about his mother ’ s side of the family and how she met his father , Worthington said , “ Her name
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was Frances Fant , and the way that happened was my mother ’ s aunt lived in Jacksboro and mother went up there to visit . My dad was there and they got to going together and got married . So whenever it came time to deliver me on Aug . 29 , 1926 , she came down to her doctor here in Weatherford and to be with her mother while she had the baby .” Once baby and mother were good to go they returned to Jacksboro , completing the new family .
Both Worthington and younger brother Melvin were born in Weatherford .
“ Yes , we were born here , but we grew up in Jacksboro . My brother is deceased now , but he was a tremendous guy ; I ’ m sorry you didn ’ t get to know him .”
Melvin Worthington , about four
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years Worthington ’ s junior , “ went to Texas University and in his freshman year was involved in a diving accident which left him a quadriplegic . He was 18 years of age when that happened and he lived to be 63 . He was a wonderful friend to everyone that knew him . But he did more as a quadriplegic than most people do who have a whole healthy body . People would come up to him to see him , to try to visit with him to make him feel better ; when they left they were the ones feeling better . They ’ d end up talking to him about their problems , and he would kind of help them , you know .”
Asked if they had been very close , Worthington sighed out the words , “ Oh , man .”
Once he graduated Jacksboro High School in 1943 , Worthington
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