Donnie Hugh Worley Sr.

Donnie was born on 12 September 1931, in Mullens, West Virginia, to Posey Worley and Thelma (Worrell) Worley. As the 4th of 6 children, Donnie had to compete with five siblings for everything, including food and clothing. He and his 3 brothers started working at a very young age hauling furniture for the family business.

After attending 10th Grade, Donnie lied about his age and enlisted in the US Army in 1947 at the age of 15. New clothes, a free bunk, and three hot meals a day made it all worth it. Four years later, he saw his first combat in the Republic of Korea and was promoted to First Sergeant by the time he was 21 years old. Over the years, he continued with his education and earned his Bachelors degree. He was eventually promoted to E-9 and went on to serve as the 6th Army Sergeant Major, the 8th Army/US Forces Korea/Combined Forces Command Sergeant Major, and the US Army-Vietnam (USAR-V) Sergeant Major under Gen William Westmoreland. He spent the last half of his career as a Command Sergeant Major and was awarded the Legion of Merit, Air Medal, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Medal, Army Occupation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal to name a few.

After 32 years of Army Service, he retired in 1979 and became a Department of the Army Civilian. He started his civil service at Kelly AFB and later Fort Sam Houston where he served as the Deputy Director for Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR), before retiring after 20-plus years. Donnie met his wife Dora Louise (Shafenburg) Worley in San Antonio, TX and they raised one son, Mark Owen Worley.

After retiring from Civil Service, Donnie spent most of his time playing golf with his crew (Tinseth, Morissette and Pollard), vacationing with friends, halibut fishing in Alaska, playing poker at his monthly “Executive Meeting”, weekly dinners with the crew on Wednesday nights, loving on his grandkids at any opportunity, taking care of dogs while Mark and family were out of country, and taking care of his loving wife, Dora.

Donnie was predeceased by his wife Dora; his mother and father, Thelma (Worrell) and Posey; brothers Roby, Jimmie and Doug; and sisters Jackie and Maxine. He is survived by his son Mark and daughter in-law, Brandy (Moravits), and grandchildren, Owen and Faith; daughter Nan and her husband Bunny (Beeson), granddaughter Kari; his son Donnie Jr, granddaughters Nicole and Patricia; daughter Susan, and grandchildren Holly and Armor.

Services will be held at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery (Shelter 4) on September 8, 2023 at 9:00am.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Fisher House, Inc., 7323 West Highway 90, Suite 107, San Antonio, TX 78227 or on their website at fisherhouseinc.org/donate.

Donnie spent most of his life taking care of Soldiers and their families, much like the Fisher House.

This is an organization that he felt very strongly about.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.neptunesociety.com/location/san-antonio-cremation for the Worley family.