L Worth Crosswhite

Worth Crosswhite died with his family by his side at the age of 85 Thursday, June 12, 2014 after a short bout with heart failure. The Crosswhite family invites you to join them for viewing Sunday, June 15, 2014 at the Smith & Kernke Funeral Home from 2:00- 4:00PM. A Christian memorial service will be held at All Souls' Episcopal Church in Oklahoma City on June 16th at 1:30. Graveside service will follow at Sunset Memorial Cemetery, Norman. Born in Shawnee, OK December 17, 1928, he was the only child of Marie and Toney Crosswhite. Marie was killed in a car accident when Worth was just 7. His wonderful Grandmother Ella Garrison (Gurr) raised (and spoiled) him. He graduated from Shawnee High School in 1946 where he developed many special friendships. At the age of 85, he still continued to meet many of those friends once a week in Shawnee for laughter, tall tales, replaying weekend sports and, of course, automobile talk over morning coffee and on to lunch. We knew he wasn't feeling well when he began saying he didn't feel like making the weekly trip to Shawnee a few weeks ago. After graduating from high school, Worth and one of his high school buddies joined the Air Force. He was based at Tinker AFB assigned to the Military Personnel Division. He served three years and was honorably discharged at which time he applied and was hired on a civil service position, WG-2 Box Maker, at Tinker. He worked his way up to the highest graded civil service position before his retirement with almost 40 years of service. He received a Presidential appointment from President Jimmy Carter and served as the Deputy Director of Materiel Management until his retirement. Worth received many awards during his civil service career including the Meritorious Civil Service Award which is the highest honor a civil service employee can receive. He represented the Air Force and the United States on several trips to other countries. After retirement, he continued working another 7 years for two government contractors, Logistics Systems Architecture and Battelle. In 1961, Worth married Jane Ann Craig from Norman. They met at Tinker where she also worked. They remained best friends for the remainder of his life. When he married Jane, he married into a family of Mom, Dad, and 8 children. He was a big part of that family and treated them as his own family. He was so good to all of her family and always helped with anything he could. He loved all of them very much. Worth and Jane were blessed with two wonderful children, Craig and Denae Marie whom they raised in Midwest City. Craig added two fantastic sons to our family, Cyle (19) and Connor Casteel (13). Denae married Doug Planer and they also have two fantastic sons, Worth (15) and Cayman (13). He had lots of fun with his four grandsons. They heard many car, fishing and hunting stories. Craig resides in Oklahoma City. Denae and her family live in Temecula, CA where Doug serves in the Air Force as a Colonel at March ARB. After Craig and Denae were born and he was working full time, Worth pursued and earned a college degree in Political Science from OU. He then pursued a master's degree also from OU. He had many loves in life and one was definitely automobiles. He could give you any detail about any engine, make/model of any car (whether you wanted him to or not). He spent many of his younger years drag racing and won Nationals in 1958. He also had a love for hunting. He enjoyed annual hunting trips with his dear friend, Jerry Williams. They hunted in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and, of course, Oklahoma. He enjoyed target shooting. He taught Craig and Denae who both became very good shooters. He also enjoyed all OU sports, especially football. He followed it all of his adult life and went to many OU games with family and friends. Worth would tell you he had a very happy and complete life and was able to enjoy many of the things he desired doing as a result of his hard work, determination, and perseverance. Worth was a wonderful man who will be greatly missed by all of his family and wonderful friends. We appreciate him so much for all the things he did to make our lives better. We know he is busy visiting with his heavenly family and friends. The family would like to say a special thanks to Good Shepherd Hospice. They were a God send. We were able to keep Worth at home as he desired because of their amazing assistance and guidance helping us care for and keep him comfortable. We appreciate all of them so very much.