Noel Reynolds Jr.

Noel Worley Reynolds, Jr. was born at Worley Hospital on March 3, 1939 in Pampa, Texas.  His parents, Noel Worley Reynolds, Sr. and Anne (Talley) Reynolds were ranchers in Grey County at the time.  (Note: Worley Hospital, now a historical landmark, was named after his great-grandmother.)

After living in Pampa, Worley’s childhood and adolescent years were spent in Springer, New Mexico, Holbrook, Arizona and Abilene, Texas.  He graduated from Abilene High School in 1956.

During his school years, Worley demonstrated a love for learning.  While still in high school he took college-level courses in Greek; he was fascinated with Egyptian archeology and works of literature, especially Shakespeare.

After college, Worley served briefly as a missionary in Africa.  His time there became the subject of the novel, The Southern Cross is Around Here Somewhere, which was published in 2000.

Worley’s love for learning led him to pursue bachelors and master’s degrees in English from the University of New Mexico and a master’s degree in Library Science from the University of South Florida in Tampa.  After serving briefly as a professor at Morehead State University in Kentucky, Worley spent most of his career serving as a high school teacher and/or librarian in New Mexico.  His passion was teaching art classes at Aztec High School to students from the Navajo Nation.

For a time in the 1980’s, Worley was the head librarian at New Mexico Military Institute near Roswell, New Mexico.

In addition to his intellectual gifts, Worley was an artist.  He attended the Institute of Art and Design in Los Angeles during the 1960’s and created numerous landscape paintings over the years.  One of his largest oil paintings hangs in the lobby of the Henderson Theater at San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico.  His family and friends proudly display his art in their homes and workspaces.

Worley was a true cat lover.  His feline friends over the years include: Kierkegaard, Fairchild, Highpockets, Elsa and the “cat diva”, Cookie.

A resident of Fort Worth for almost thirty years, Worley is survived by his sister, Loyce (Skipper) Reed of Fort Worth; his nephew, Wayne A. Reed of Brooklyn, New York; his niece, Amanda Kuenstler of Houston, Texas; and his great-nephew, Wesley Kuenstler and family in Rockwall, Texas.

Memorials: Gifts in memory of Worley Reynolds can be made to: NAMI Tarrant County, 3131 W. 4th Street, Fort Worth, TX  76107; www.namitarrant.org.