Henry Worthington: Newtown Square’s Oldest First-Time Author

Local Star feature by Liz Burnett

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.

Henry J. Worthington, 92-year-old Newtown Square resident and first-time author

Photo courtesy of Henry Worthington

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.

Henry’s first book, Farewell, Amelia Mary: Long Time Looking, published when he was 90, is a memoir in which he shares his thoughts about many events in his life, including the hell he imagines his father and his fellow soldiers endured but never talked about. Henry says his life married to Sarah for 65 years and raising their six children in the Newtown Square Cape Cod home they purchased in 1952 was ”ordinary.” But the profound perspectives and reflections in his book tell another story.

H.J. Worthington's first book, Farewell, _Amelia Mary: Long Time Looking_, is available from online booksellers.

The book’s title relates to an included segment about a 1937 event that Henry, then age 10, vividly remembers: Amelia Mary Earhart disappeared at sea while attempting to be the first woman pilot to fly around the world. That tragic event caused Henry to notice how the young girls he knew were profoundly saddened by the loss of a courageous woman whom they considered a role model. In his book, he shares his thoughts about the value of role models for every generation. He also muses on several other “touchpoints” in his early years, such as 1927, the year he was born and the year in which Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic.

Another touchpoint was the date Henry met his future wife Sarah: December 7, 1941, the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, which put into motion his eventual Army service in the Pacific. Another national tragedy that inspired Henry to express his reaction in a poem (included in his book) was the assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963.

When asked to sum up his life, Henry said, “Talk is just sound, meaningless, unless we experience something new, maybe a bit odd and out of our comfort zone.” He said his goal for his first book was to give readers an idea of who he was and who he knows himself to be today: “A 92-year-old old guy who’s attempting to write a second book before the lights go out forever.” Henry hopes that both of his books help him connect with his readers and “prompt for them some meaningful contemplation and perhaps some joy and comfort.”

The “ordinary” part of Henry’s life is that he owned and ran a successful tax accounting business in Newtown Square from 1955 to 1995 while being a husband and dad. He still lives in that same house, but now misses Sarah, his sweetheart and wife of 65 years. Henry describes that feeling as “the deep, deep alone.” He thinks that topic may be a theme in his next book. Another theme may be what he describes as “the lonely love,” a continuous and profound search (the “Long Time Looking”) we all seem to do as we look for something new or some answer or connection that satisfies a need, even if it’s simply to keep us curious about life.

Publisher’s Note: Local Stars like Henry Worthington aren’t celebrities who live here; they’re stars who live locally and should be recognized. We are honored to help our Readers discover this “Local Star” whose light has been brightly shining in our community for 92 years! Henry’s book is available from online booksellers. His memoir includes nine short stories, essays and poems associated with historical events that contemporary thinking can identify with. Henry donates all royalties to two organizations that support veterans: the VFW’s Home for Children and the Disabled American Veterans.

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