Col. Alan B. Worthington

Col. Alan Beaumont Worthington
April 13, 1925-Sept. 20, 2014
On Saturday Sept. 20, in the early evening, Col. Alan B. Worthington passed away peacefully among loving family members and caring staff at Masonic Village in Lafayette Hill.
Born in Langhorne on April 13, 1925, the youngest child of Ethel Yarnall Worthington and Stephen Putney Worthington, Alan was a voracious reader all his life. He attended The South Kent School in South Kent, CT. He also was a self-taught artist who painted ships and landscapes in his early years, and took photographs and worked in his own darkroom – skills he later shared with his daughters.
As a young man, PFC Worthington saw heavy action in World War II as a cannoneer in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland and Germany with the 131st Anti-Aircraft Artillery 90 mm. Gun Brigade, after landing on Utah Beach on Aug. 23, 1944.
With the 1st Army, they spearheaded the drive through eastern France and into Belgium, helping free Paris in August 1944. He often spoke about the excitement of riding with tanks and big guns down the streets of Paris with the city in jubilant celebration.
He served in the Battle of the Bulge from Dec. 16, 1944 until Jan. 25, 1945. Alan and his fellow soldiers went for weeks in freezing slush and ice without removing their boots; when the boots were finally removed, most had trenchfoot and frostbite and many, including PFC Worthington, suffered severe and permanent nerve and vascular damage that lasted a lifetime.
In June 1945 Alan and his fellow soldiers were assigned to Berchtesgaden, where they were assigned guard duty at Hitler’s famous Eagle’s Nest. During that period, Gen. Eisenhower visited and PFC Worthington was assigned to greet him at the base of the mountain, where the elevator to the Eagle’s Nest was located. A sign at the elevator posted by the commanding officer indicated “Officers Only.” After showing Eisenhower to the elevator, he told the general he would meet him at the top, intending to walk up the mountain road, as enlisted men were not permitted to utilize the elevator. Eisenhower tore the sign off the elevator with an expletive, threw it off the side of the mountain and then walked with Alan up the hill to the Eagle’s Nest. PFC Worthington was later ordered by his commanding officer to climb down the mountain and retrieve the sign after Eisenhower departed.
Alan received his discharge on Feb. 14, 1946. After the war, Alan attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in history. He was active in Delta Phi fraternity, “St.Elmo,” making lifelong friendships there. He also rowed varsity crew. And it was at the University of Pennsylvania that he met the lovely Ruth Myers, a pre-med major at Penn. They married in 1950 and settled initially in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, but eventually moved to Plymouth Meeting, Pa., where they raised their family.
After the war Alan's service continued in Army Reserve civil affairs. In addition to being a University of Pennsylvania graduate, he was a graduate of the U.S. Army War College and Command and General Staff college. He attained the rank of colonel during his Army Reserve service, from which he retired in 1988.
Significant among the various American and foreign military decorations Col. Worthington received for his service are the Service Medal with 3 Battle Stars (Central Europe, Rhineland and Northern Europe), the American Service Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal and the EAME Service Medal.
On June 17, 2011, he and nine other distinguished veterans of World War II gathered at the French Embassy in Washington and had bestowed upon them the title of Knight of the French Legion of Honor. The Legion of Honor was created by Napoleon in 1802 to acknowledge services rendered to France by persons of great merit. Even in the present day, the French people express their gratitude for the assistance the United States gave them in World War II by adopting a descriptive motto, "We will never forget," for the courage and devotion to the great cause of freedom that the American forces exhibited in coming to their support and aide.
Col. Worthington became a leader in the Philadelphia-area insurance claims business and provided independent insurance claims adjustment for a wide range of well-known insurance companies as president of Weeks-Worthington Adjustment Company. Active in the insurance adjustment community, Alan served as treasurer for the Pennsylvania Association Of Independent Insurance Adjusters for many years. He was honored in 2005 for his long years of service.
Col. Worthington was active in American Legion Post 355, serving a term as commander of the unit and recruiting many members.
For most of his life, he was also a member of the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Pa.
Col. Alan Worthington will be deeply missed by his devoted wife, Ruth, and his three daughters, Margot Worthington, Carol Worthington-Levy and Sandra Worthington, Esq., as well as sons-in-law Lloyd Levy and Richard Sheppard, and his only grandchild, Rebecca.
Col. Worthington was laid to rest on Friday Sept. 26, 2014, with full military honors presented by American Legion Post 355, and American Legion Post 100, which provided a gun salute and bugler for a ceremony befitting an American hero.