Barbara Joann Worley of Florence, AL, passed away Monday, October 19, 2020. A memorial service will be held today, October 30, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. at Old Fashioned United Baptist Church of Independence in Attica, IN. Ministers Joel Whitehead and Henry Bell Jr. will officiate the service. A private burial will be held at Tippecanoe Memory Gardens in West Lafayette, IN.
Joann was born in the Appalachian mountain country of Kentucky to a GI father who had been liberated from a Nazi prison camp only two years before, and to a very young 17 year old mother. Joann was their first child. Tragically, when Joann was only four, she and her two year old baby sister, Pauline, were struck with whooping cough and very high fevers. Pauline declined into a vegetative state and passed away at seven years old and Joann became mentally disabled. Through all this, their mom provided them and all their siblings with a loving home as dad struggled to make ends meet. Though Joann could not count much past 10, she was a quick observer who could help others find misplaced keys or a brush. And though she couldn’t read, she loved word-search books and could find words that were backwards and upside-down quickly. But her three great joys were cowboys, puzzles, and gospel singing. She especially loved Bonanza, more importantly, Little Joe, for whom she held a secret flame and always had a picture of him by her bed. She could spend tireless hours at jigsaw puzzles, working methodically piece by piece, and could hardly be torn away from them. But church and old-time gospel singing was central to her as she celebrated her salvation, and she hummed the songs with joy. She has long missed her mom and dad, and was overheard recently in her sleep saying she would see them soon. Now, with a clear mind, she can run to them, and Him. We are left with a puzzle piece missing, but her puzzles are now complete.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Kelley and Goldie Worley and sister, Pauline Worley.
Survivors include her sisters, Donna Burton (Danny) and Gloria Mullins (Doug), and brother, Joel Worley (Debbie).
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in the name of Barbara Worley to Blue Door Thrift Store/ Scope 310, 4129 Helton Drive, Florence, AL 35630. You may sign the guest register at sprywilliam.com
