Hangar 25 Air Museum has lost a friend, Jerry Worthy.

Jerry Worthy loved his family beyond everything. But secondarily he had other loves. He loved his Community and worked extremely hard to see that good things happened. In the middle of the 1990's there was a small group of people who had formed a committee to see if preserving a World War II relic would be feasible. From the day Jerry found out that this was going on, he was hooked. He was at every event, meeting or social gathering that happened. He had a personal passion to see that one of the last standing WWll hangars was restored and transformed into a museum for memorabilia of that era - 1941. Much work was done by this group to get funding for such a project. Many hours of volunteering by them was spent to make this happen. One event in particular was an Air Fair with every conceivable activity for the public. Jerry brought a challenge to the committee, "If this event makes $1200.00 after all expenses, I will kiss a pig". Where did this come from? - only from a man who had vision and knew how to quicken the minds of people - Jerry Worthy. Well the event happened, and Jerry won - or lost, depending on how you look at it. Either way, the planning for a pig kissing is in the works. A local farmer offered his show pig, and the media and City officials were notified. A date was set, and the day came.

It was a bright sunny day with a hog trailer and fenced area ready for the appearance of both Miss Piggy and Mr. Worthy. News Media were all ready for the event - Newspaper, Radio & TV all standing by. The audience was comfortable in seating available, all watching for the appearance. Miss Piggy emerged from the trailer - waiting for her visitor and suddenly appearing from the back of the trailer was a gentleman, dressed in a 3 piece suit carrying a beautifully bowed basket filled with carrots, cabbage leaves and other assorted foods desired by a pig. Yes, it was Jerry Worthy! Jerry addressed the crowd and gracefully entered the pen of Miss Piggy. After visiting a moment- he pulled a bottle out of his coat pocket and carefully splashed a bit of the best perfume that Wal-Mart made, on top of Miss Piggy. They danced around each other for a moment - and then it happened. THE KISS... (on top of the head of course).

This is a long story of one act Jerry was willing to do, and with such flare for the Museum he loved. There are many such stories. He was there for all of them and loved it. The next event was the formal ball for Hangar 25 Air Museum. It was batted around what should it be called? We cannot just keep calling it "The Ball", thus it was named "The Pig Ball". In a few years Jerry and other military members of the Hangar 25 Board of Directors thought that maybe something a little more appropriate should be chosen for a formal military event. So, the Silver Wings Ball name was adopted and stands today. Jerry's memory is in all of this and he did not miss more then 3 balls in 22 years, no matter what the name.

Jerry was very instrumental in all the workings of the Museum. If he were not there every week, he would call and check in and just visit with the staff. He always had an idea to share and most worked out. Jerry is now and will forever be missed by all who knew him.

Thank you, Louise Ann, Ann, Roy, Michelle, and Jeb, for letting us borrow him for a short while. His smile will be forever missed at Hangar 25 Air Museum. Thank you, Jerry, for being you!