FEBRUARY 2017 PARKER COUNTY TODAY rodeoed with a vengeance . But in those years , the clouds of war loomed large on the American horizon , shadows of wars raging on other continents .
“ The war came along , and everybody in our town , in Jacksboro , was going into the service and I felt like I was the only one left that wasn ’ t going ,” he recalled . “ So I volunteered for the Navy when I was 17 and went into the service for two years [ 1944-46 ].”
Worthington said he saw no combat , and by the time he arrived at Pearl Harbor in ’ 44 the installation had been fairly well restored . He spent nine months at Pearl before sailing west for the retaken island of Guam where he spent seven months .
“ I helped put in electricity in remote parts of Guam ,” he said , “ and while we worked we had guys with rifles guarding us because there were still some Japanese soldiers at large . But we never had any problem with them .”
Upon discharge in 1946 , the Jacksboro cowboy returned to his passion — bull riding . “ After I got out of the service I couldn ’ t wait to get back to rodeoing ,” he said . “ I started rodeoing in earnest in 1946 .”
While riding bulls he attended college , rather “ colleges .”
“ I went to college on the GI Bill and rodeoed while doing that ,” he said with a smirk beginning to form . “ The problem was the rodeoing took over , and I would just go to school three or four months and then leave . I ’ d go to another college and it was the same thing . So I went to five or six colleges before I finally went to A & M and graduated in 1954 .”
In the midst of all this bucking and studying , in
1949 , he married Jo Harrington , who hailed from the Pleasant Valley community west of Mineral Wells .
“ I knew Jo in Jacksboro ,” Worthington explained , “ because she ’ d come to stay with her sister there and go to school her last few years . Didn ’ t know her well , I ’ d just seen her ; but after I got back from the war and had been rodeoing a while , I walked into Davis City Pharmacy in Weatherford and she was there with her mother . I asked her if she wanted to go to the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show with me the next night . She said she did . Now I didn ’ t know I was up in the bull riding that night because it was a long show and I had no idea I ’ d be up the first night . But I was up . I went up in the stands to sit with her and when my time came I rode a very tough bull . I thought she ’ d be real impressed , but she wasn ’ t . She said , ‘ Oh , that was good .’ That ’ s about all she said . I had my chest all stuck out , you see .”
Worthington described their relationship in terms of completion . “ She doesn ’ t have any degrees , but she has so much common sense . I have a lot of book learning but not much common sense . So we make a pretty good pair .”
Worthington called her a strong Christian woman who was saved as a young girl . As for his own spirituality , he said he got saved at age 47 .
Recalling his proposal to Jo brought a broad grin to his face .
“ I went out to Alpine and was going to get on the rodeo team out there ,” he said , “ that ’ s where I went to college my first year . But I couldn ’ t get on the rodeo team because they had the best team in the country — those guys were all better than me . Well , I got kind of lonely down there — I couldn ’ t get on the rodeo team , I didn ’ t have anybody . So I got to thinking about her . I ’ d been going with her for nearly a year , and whenever I called her from Alpine I said , ‘ If you ’ ll come out here we ’ ll get married .’ Back then you had [ telephone ] operators , and Jo couldn ’ t hear me , so the operator had to tell her what I said . [ Big laugh ] And the operator said to me , ‘ Yes , she ’ ll be on the first plane .’”
Worthington and a friend drove to Marfa to collect his bride-to-be . He ’ d found a Methodist preacher who ’ d agreed to marry the couple . The newlyweds lived in a small one-bedroom mobile home Worthington had rented . He hung up his spurs in 1955 . Thinking he ’ d ranch , Worthington eventually earned a degree in Animal Husbandry .
“ Yeah , I was going to be a big rancher , but I soon found out that took a lot more money than I had ,” he said . “ I couldn ’ t really find a job , so I took a job as a school teacher and I taught school and coached for eight years .” His schools included Springtown , Aledo , Kennedale and Weatherford Junior High .
With banking in his blood on both sides , it was inevitable , perhaps , that he ’ d eventually hire on with a financial institution . He took a summer job in 1962 at First National in Weatherford and at summer ’ s end was asked to stay on full-time .
“ That was the beginning of my banking career ,
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