Local Star by Liz Burnett Henry J. Worthington, 92-year-old Newtown Square resident and first-time author
Henry Worthington:
Photo courtesy of Henry Worthington
Newtown Square’s Oldest First-Time Author Henry J. Worthington was born in Broomall on November 15, 1927, where he grew up, in his family’s “compound,” a commercial building and several homes that housed his family, his grandparents, and some uncles, aunts and cousins. Henry attended St. Anastasia School and West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys. He graduated after only 3½ years because he, like all young men back then, got drafted into the Army three months after their 18th birthday. After Henry completed Army basic training in August 1946, he was sent to the west Pacific islands, to “help wind down the residue” of World War II. When he was discharged from the Army in March 1947, he was not yet 20 years old. In 1948, Henry met his future bride at a dance in Upper Darby. Sarah Hogan of East Lansdowne was an accomplished skate dancer and very good straight dancer. She shared his lifelong
love of dancing, developed from “dancing in the grass”during his childhood at the frequent fun gatherings at his family’s home. Meeting and dancing with Sarah grew into a romance, and they planned to get married in September 1950. In June 1950, when the Korean War required Henry to reactivate his military service, he and Sarah were relieved to learn that he was disqualified due to a recent surgical operation. Almost 70 years later, Henry still often wonders if he had gone to serve in the Army Infantry troops sent there, would he have survived the brutal conditions and returned home to Sarah and their future together. Those thoughts often then remind him of his father, a World War I Purple Heart-decorated veteran who had his left shoulder ripped open in the trenches of 1918 France.
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January 2020
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