John Robert Worden

John Robert Worden
July 6, 1955-December 1, 2024
John Robert Worden, 69, passed away peacefully on December 1, 2024, at his home in Reisterstown, Maryland, surrounded by the love of his daughter, Kati, and his wife, Cindy, and the thoughts and prayers of many friends, neighbors and family members. He took pride in being a fighter with strength and dignity in the face of a three-year battle against cancer.
As was his nature, he put others first and was concerned about the safety and welfare of his family after his passing. John's zest for life and goal of living to be at least 100 were a legend among family and friends. He squeezed as much adventure and joy from it all as possible through enjoying time with family, his Boston terriers, travel, good food, fishing, skiing, snorkeling, reading, music, scuba diving, photography and Notre Dame and Baltimore Ravens sports events.
John was a free-spirit who helped to put others at ease by being kind, caring, and funny. His appreciation of beauty was reflected in his love of brightness and color (especially cobalt blue) and reflected his dynamic personality. He loved the works of Tiffany and Maxfield Parrish, intricate butterfly trays, loud Hawaiian shirts and Southwest gemstone jewelry and collected them throughout his life. He was happiest wearing a festive Hawaiian shirt from his extensive collection and was never too busy to appreciate the miracle of a rainbow and starlit sky.
John grew up in Rochester, New York, and had a supportive family comprised of his parents, and a younger sister and brother. He was affectionately known as Moose during high school but in later years became known as Crocky because of his love and impersonation of Steve Irwin. Upon graduation, he began studies at SUNY, Buffalo, obtaining a Bachelors degree in psychology. He moved to Baltimore to attend graduate school at Loyola University obtaining a Master's degree in Psychology. While supporting himself and crafting his trade by working at Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital he met Cindy who became his wife and life partner.
John loved the counseling profession and quickly developed a specialty in working with troubled youth and their families. He touched many lives and developed skills as a family therapist.
After joining the Baltimore County Police Department as a Counseling supervisor, John worked to develop a skilled and cohesive team to work in the agency and the community. They became his work family and remained cherished and devoted friends after his retirement in 2021 and subsequent illness the following year. His greatest professional accomplishment was development of a video and training manual to be used for training police officers on the process for conducting missing child investigations. He obtained grant funding and spent two years as Executive Producer for "My Child Is Missing" in collaboration with John Walsh, among others and winning an Aurora Gold Award from the Baltimore County Police Department in 2001. As an expert in this area, he traveled the country to teach police officers about missing child investigation.
He was predeceased by his father, John L. Worden, and is survived by his mother, Catherine Irene Worden, his sister Terry Worden-Budnik, and brother James Worden in Rochester, New York, and his daughter, Kati, and wife Cindy in Maryland. He is survived by many loving nieces and nephews of whom he was very proud. He was born to be a father and made that role his top priority at all times, never missing an important event and taking every opportunity to be his daughter's best friend, advocate, and mentor.
A celebration of life will be held in early 2025 and family visitation can be arranged upon request. Family requests that expressions of sympathy be made through donations to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children or other non-profit organizations directed toward helping youth victims and offenders.