Virginia Worley

HIGHLANDS - Virginia Allyne Johnson Worley died Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. She was born Aug. 22, 1929, in Nashville, Tennessee. Her parents were Oscar Theodore Johnson and Ruth Mebane Johnson. She grew up in Miami, Florida and graduated summa cum laude in 1950 with a major in music from Barry University in Miami. That year, she married Richard Lee Worley of Miami, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
In 1964, the family moved to Highlands. Mrs. Worley opened a kindergarten in the Episcopal Church. Two years later, Macon County was awarded a federal grant to establish Head Start pre-schools throughout the county. Mrs. Worley was hired as the teacher at the Highlands center located at that time in the log cabin now occupied by the Highlands Hiker.
A few years later, the state of North Carolina established kindergarten classes in all public schools. Mrs. Worley obtained her teacher's certificate from Western Carolina University and was employed at Highlands School. She retired in 1991. The Highlander newspaper printed her picture on the front page with the caption, "Beloved Kindergarten Teacher Retires."
Mrs. Worley loved to travel and continue learning. She attended summer school in Bregenz, Austria, Florence, Italy and Madrid, Spain. She also traveled to Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti, Australia and New Zealand. She visited many other countries including France, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Great Britain, 47 states in the USA and seven provinces in Canada.
At the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, she was a member of the choir, served on the vestry and flower guild and organized and directed the student bell choir. Mrs. Worley also was a board member for the Hudson Library and a life-long member of the Mountain Garden Club.
She is survived by four children, Elizabeth, Ruth, Mary Lou and George; nine grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and nieces, nephews and their children. She was preceded in death by her son, Richard "Dickie".
Details regarding a memorial service will be shared as soon as they are finalized.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Mountain Garden Club and the Hudson Library.