U.S. Veteran
John Edward Worman, 70, beloved husband, father, brother and uncle, passed away after an irritatingly fierce illness, on November 29, 2013, in La Luz.

Ironically, the man who had been such a devoted friend and contributor to Find-a-Grave, opted to be cremated and scattered in the yard of his home of 42 years. "Take that, tumbleweeds!" we are instructed to say. No service or formalized funeral arrangements are planned.

John was technically born in Shreveport, Louisiana, to George and Ada Worman, on March 11, 1943. He would have said, however, that he hailed from Shiprock, New Mexico, by way of Otis, Kansas and Kansas City, Kansas, with strong ancestral ties to Dearborn, Missouri (pronounced Missour-uh).

He is survived by his wife, Christel, of 44 years, daughter Sandra Worman, son-in-law, Robert MacNeil, and the original member of his chosen family, the yellow 1967 CJ-5 Jeep. He is also survived by his best friend (and sister) G-Ann Jessup, her husband Don, and nieces Kelly Jackson (Art), Stephanie Stone (Jeff) and nephew, Christopher Jessup (Debbie Kennell). His dear nephew, Richard Jessup, already awaited him on the other side. He graduated from high school courtesy of his remarkable luck and a chance offering from the Navy to spend a WHOLE DAY inside a classroom, taking some indeterminate test, which turned out to be for his GED. His younger sister, G-Ann, walked across the stage of Kirtland High School twice that year: once for her own diploma and once for his. He went on to earn an AS degree in Mechanical Technology from NMSU and retired from IBM after 30 years.

While four years in the Navy as a Boilerman aboard the USS Whetstone were enough, the camaraderie and friendship he found in his association with his ship's reunion group was an enduring pleasure. He also enjoyed being editor of the reunion's newsletter, "The Rolling Stone." (They have yet to be sued for copyright infringement. Apparently, even the large media publications know better than to aggravate a dedicated group of old Salts.)

He had a wonderful mind for how things worked (he taught himself to tie a bow-tie from a magazine article) and a passion for all things computer. He was a devoted garage saler, a skilled welder, a competent wood worker, a fine mechanic, an accomplished waffle-maker, and a tenacious bricklayer (with 30 years spanning the first cornerstone he laid on his house's foundation to the final brick in the garage's upper corner). He never met a firearm he didn't want to shoot and was an excellent gunsmith. Additionally, he was a kind and patient mentor/coach when his daughter followed in his footsteps and became a rifle shooter. He also spent many hours passing on his life-long love of the card game, cribbage. In addition to his accomplishments and hobbies, John was a marvelous friend, a dedicated husband, a first-rate father, and after decades of attempts, possibly somewhat of a dog whisperer; he concluded his life with a trio of canines who agreed that HE was the Alpha Dog.

John kept his delightful sense of humor to the end, and managed to keep telling his beloved stories about anything and everything, until almost the last. We are missing you already.



Published by Hamilton O'Dell Funeral Home on December 12, 2013