Gary W. Worrell

Gary Wayne Worrell passed away on July 8th, 2025. A lifelong resident of Farmersville, Gary was born on September 16th 1946. He graduated from Farmersville High School in 1964, where he earned his varsity letter in basketball, baseball and track and field as a Farmersville Wildcat.

Shortly after graduating, Gary worked at NCR in Dayton, Ohio. As the story goes, that did not last long. On October 26th, 1965 he walked into the offices of Draft Board No. 40 in Dayton, Ohio and volunteered for the draft, which meant someone else would not be drafted. After U.S. Army basic training at Fort Knox, KY, he went to Fort Bliss, TX, Fort Ord, CA, and New York, NY. Gary got his first orders for Vietnam in October 1967 and went to jungle warfare training at Fort Knox. Due to a shortage of rifles, he used a tree branch for three days. After arriving in Vietnam, he received his orders for Headquarters Company, 45th General Support Group, 1st Logistical Command, Camp Schmidt, Pleiku, Vietnam. He was soon promoted to specialist 5 in January 1968. He then volunteered in February 1968 for the Pleiku Sub-Area Command Recon, I Field Force at Artillery Hill, 52nd Field Artillery batteries. He received his orders for home on Sept. 14th, 1968, two days before his 22nd birthday. Gary proudly served 2 years, 10 months and 19 days in the U.S. Army. On August 8th, 1983 he joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve, where met many lifelong friends and continued to serve his country. While, in the Air Force Reserves he served in Operation Northern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Kuwait and Iraq. On Sept. 15th, 2006, Gary retired as a Senior Master Sergeant, from the 87th Aerial Port Squadron, 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. After retiring from the military, Gary supported his military brothers and sisters by volunteering at the Dayton VA food bank until 2020.

In civilian life, Gary was a hard worker. In 1968, he moved to Golden, Colorado for mine work. In 1971, he moved back to Farmersivlle and began a lifelong career as a telephone lineman with GTE, which eventually was bought by Verizon. In 2001, he retired from Verizon, only to start working for Germantown Independent Telephone company for the next 16 years. In 2016, he retired at age 70, and continued to be a school bus driver for First Student until 2020.

What Gary cherished more than his military brothers and sisters was his family and friends. Family was everything to him and if he considered you a friend, consider yourself blessed. He was humorous, kind, and an all-around wonderful man. He will be greatly missed by many.

Gary was proceeded in death by his loving parents, George and Margaret Worrell. His brother and sister-in-law, Robert Worrell and Karen Worrell. His niece, Abby Worrell.

Gary is survived by his wife of 54 years, Jayne Worrell, his three children and ten grandchildren: Sam Worrell (Tiffanie, Tyler, Evan, Eryn, Lexi), David and Christina Worrell (Ethan, Ella), Kelly and Tony Marascio (Delaney, Ava, Brayden). Gary will be missed by all who knew him.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Dayton Veteran Affairs or The Farmersville Fire Association. A visitation will be held at Arpp, Root and Carter Funeral Home from 4-7pm on Friday, July 25th. A funeral will be held at Farmersville United Methodist on  Saturday, July 26th at 10:30am. Graveside service with military honors to follow at Holp Cemetery.