Lewis Worsham, Sr.

Waring Lewis "Lew" Worsham, Sr., age 76, went to be with his Lord on Wednesday, November 7, 2012, after a period of declining health. Lew was born in Richmond, Virginia to the late James P. and Grace Bowles Worsham and lived there until he joined the Navy in 1952. He spent twenty years serving his country in the United States Navy. During the first part of his Navy career, he served on a mine sweeper on the west coast and on an amphibious ship where he made several trips to the Mediterranean Sea. Lew was a Navy instructor the last fifteen years, serving two tours of duty at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center and five years at the Amphibious Operational Training Unit at Little Creek, Virginia. At his military retirement in 1972, he was serving as the Master Chief of the Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois. Upon retirement, Lew came to Canton and taught NJROTC at Pisgah High School for five years. When Title Nine was implemented, Lew was the first girls' softball coach at Pisgah High School where he coached the cross country team. In 1977, he went to Western Carolina University and worked as the Housekeeping Superintendent for twenty-three years before retirement. Lew was a member of West Canton Baptist Church where he served as a deacon and Sunday school superintendent. Lew is survived by his wife of fifty-five years, Harriet Mehaffey Worsham; a son, Waring L. Worsham, Jr. (Karen); three daughters, Laura Sawyer (Ted), Donna Butler (J.R.), and Lisa Shearer (Gary); one sister, Brenda Mason; three brothers, James P. "Buddy", Robert Ray, and Bruce Edward Worsham; eleven grandchildren, Ryan McCracken (Erika), Duke Sawyer, Amanda Walters (Cy), Brandon Parton, (Jessica), Zachary Butler, Samantha, Nichole, Jessica, and Danielle Worsham, and Carter and Kelly Shearer; and four great-grandchildren, Christian and Aubrey Parton, Gabriel Signer, and Aiden McCracken. Funeral services will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 11, 2012 at West Canton Baptist Church with the Reverend George Holley officiating. The family will receive friends from 1:45 until 2:45 p.m. prior to the service at the church. Interment will follow at a later date at Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Black Mountain with military honors. Memorials may be made in Lew's memory to the West Canton Church Building Fund, 75 Lowe Street, Canton, NC 28716 or to Care Partners Hospice Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 25338, Asheville, NC 28813. Wells Funeral Home of Canton is in charge of the arrangements.

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