- Date Of Birth: July 12, 1927
- Date Of Death: December 2, 2017
- State: Illinois
Homer James “Jim” Worden, Jr., beloved husband, father, uncle, cousin, dear friend, and the eldest of our extended Worden family entered into eternal life Saturday, December 2, 2017. On Wednesday, November 29th Jim was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Peoria’s OSF St. Francis Medical Center. He was driving home after having his traditional Wednesday breakfast with his daughter and four of his closest childhood friends. Tragically Jim’s car was struck head-on by a truck while returning to his home in Knoxville. Jim was often referred to as 90 years “young.” He was a vibrant, independent man, who had the greatest passion for life, lived life to the fullest, and had the deepest faith in God. Jim was known for his generous heart, kind spirit, and exceptional memory. His memory for details amazed people. He was a history and mathematics buff and was known as a “walking baseball encyclopedia.”
Jim loved sports and was a Chicago White Sox fan and since he was a little boy, accompanied his father to many Sox games. For the past 30+ years, he was a White Sox season tickets holder and a member of the Stadium Club. He loved treating friends to Sox games and “the best grub” at the Stadium Club. Jim and his daughter attended the Sox World Series game-a thrill of a lifetime! (They did however become temporary Cub fans, cheering on the Cubbies when they too won the World Series.) Jim was born in Galesburg, on July 12, 1927, the son of Genevieve Dodge-Worden and Homer J. Worden, Sr. His parents and wife Dorothy “Dottie” Allen preceded him in death.
He attended elementary school in a one-room schoolhouse while living on the family farm in Walnut, IL, St. Joseph’s Academy in Galesburg, Corpus Christi High School and graduated from Galesburg High School in 1945. During his senior year of high school, Jim enlisted in the United States Navy. Jim married Dorothy Allen on August 29, 1953, at Corpus Christi Catholic Church. Jim was proud to be a 3rd generation railroader, carrying on the legacy of his father and paternal grandfather. Like his father, Jim first worked as a fireman on the steam engines with C.B. (Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy) railroad and later advanced to locomotive engineer (Burlington-Northern/freight trains). His grandfather worked as a brakeman. Together Jim, his father and grandfather, uncles, and cousins worked for the railroad just shy of a total of 400 years combined. Jim worked for the railroad for 44 years and 3 months. For many years and until his retirement, Jim was the local chairman for the B.L.E. (Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers).
After his retirement on December 15, 1990 Jim was both proud and honored in making a video with his buddy and former co-worker, Bob Coe, Sr. The video was entitled “Men of the Steam Era,” which has been viewed by countless numbers of people on YouTube. The video can be viewed during Jim’s visitation. Jim was a member of the American Legion, one of the longest-term Elks members, Knights of Columbus, the National World War II Museum, and the Galesburg Railroad Museum. For the majority of his life and until his death, Jim was a philanthropist of a monumental magnitude.
Jim is survived by his daughter, Deb Worden of Galesburg; cousins, nieces, nephews, and many friends; sisters-in-law, Nancy Wittwer of Lakewood, CO, Ruth Allen of Nebraska, and Marilyn Grosch-Allen of Canon City, CO; and daughters in spirit, Linda Chezem and Blanche Shoup. My Dad was my hero. He guided me all through my life, protecting me and making sure I was always safe. He was devoted to God and always prayed for everyone. From the very beginning of my life, I had the greatest privilege there could ever be-I had two parents who loved me. There’s no greater gift they could have given me.
.
