Lena Josephine (Jo) Lady Wornat, beloved wife of Richard O. Wornat, died peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, November 24, 2024. She was a homemaker and a retired high school English, Spanish, and Speech teacher.
Born in Trumann, Arkansas, on March 22, 1927, she was the daughter of Virginia Chumbler Lady and John Franklin Lady. As a teenager, she worked as a clerk in her father’s stores, taught seven-year-olds in Sunday School at the First Baptist Church in Trumann, was editor of the high school yearbook, was a member of the Beta Club, played guard on the girls’ high school basketball team during her senior year, and graduated valedictorian of her class in 1944.
She entered Baylor University in Waco, Texas in the fall of 1944, and became actively involved in many of the campus organizations. She was elected secretary of her class during her sophomore year and later became a member of Alpha Chi, Sigma Delta Pi, and Sigma Tau Delta. She served as President of the Peer Club, and President of the Inter-Club Council. She was a member of Who’s Who and was selected as the Most Representative Girl of her class in 1948, when she graduated with a triple major in English, Spanish, and Education.
After receiving her BA degree from Baylor, she began her teaching career in Freeport, Texas. While there, she met her husband-to-be, Richard Oscar Wornat, a Petroleum Engineer from Texas A. & M. University, who was employed by Freeport Sulphur Company. After their marriage on July 15, 1951, at the First Baptist Church in Trumann, they moved to South Louisiana, where Richard became involved in the start-ups of several offshore sulphur mines, and Jo began teaching in Port Sulphur, Louisiana, for a short while. They became active members of the First Presbyterian Church in Port Sulphur with each teaching a Sunday School class and with Richard’s becoming an Elder.
Taking time out to start her family and be a mother to her four children, Jo did not resume her teaching career in Plaquemines Parish in the public schools until the school integration crisis in the mid-1960’s. She continued to teach in the Orleans Parish schools, after her husband was transferred to his company’s New Orleans office in 1970. She taught at both the
0. Perry Walker and L. B. Landry high schools.
In 1976, when her husband was transferred into the Oil and Gas Division of his company and sent out to Midland, Texas, Jo stopped teaching for health reasons. Having time to develop other interests while there, she became involved with the Permian Aimees, the Ladies Auxiliary to the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers in the area, and was elected to serve as its president for the 1979-1980 year. Being involved in church activities and getting to play Bridge with friends, also, enabled her to enjoy her years in Midland.
After another job transfer back to Louisiana in 1981, the Wornats decided to resettle on the North Shore, and built a home in Magnolia Forest in Pearl River. Both became actively engaged in programs at the First Presbyterian Church in Slidell.
Within a few years, the Presbytery of South Louisiana tapped Jo on the shoulder and asked her to serve on its New Church Development Committee. The Slidell area was undergoing rapid growth at the time, and the Presbytery was interested in seeing that a new church would be organized in the area. Jo was instrumental in helping to found and organize the Northminster Presbyterian Church at 63140 North Military Road in Pearl River, Louisiana.
Church and community activities became the focal points of her life at that time. She helped to organize the Presbyterian Women’s group at her church and served as its first president. For several years, she taught a senior high school Sunday School class at Northminster. She became a tutor for the Operation Mainstream, which later evolved into the St. Tammany Literacy Assistance, Inc., and she was able to help several adults to improve their reading and writing skills. She, also, worked at Community Christian Concern for a number of years, in the used clothing department, and was able to provide clothing to those in need, in the area.
Preceding her in death were her husband, Richard Oscar Wornat, of Huntsville, Alabama; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Franklin Lady, of Trumann, Arkansas; brother, Frank Lady, Jr., of Jonesboro, Arkansas; sisters, Virginia Frances Lady Norfleet, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and Mary Julia Lady Houston, of Trumann, Arkansas; and a grandson, Ethan Daniel Emrich, of Huntsville, Alabama, who was killed in an automobile wreck.
Survivors include daughters, Lady Louise Wornat Emrich, of Huntsville, Alabama, Virginia Lynn Wornat Pollard, of Clarksdale, Mississippi, and Dr. Mary Julia Wornat, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; son, Richard Oscar Wornat, Jr., of Atlanta, Georgia; eight grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Saturday, November 30, 2024, at Westminster Presbyterian Church. The funeral service will follow at 1:00 p.m. with Rev. Joe Steele and Rev. Jim Roberts officiating. Burial will be in Maple Hill Cemetery.
