By Christina Swanson, BA, CHN
Raised by a preacher father, he set this veteran’s life path to be drawn to helping others, and learn many new skills that were acquired during a variety of interesting career paths. Steel company estimator, college admissions counselor, chamber of commerce director, Army soldier, state prison parole officer: these are some of the careers that make up William Haworth’s life.
Haworth grew up all over southern and midwestern United States. Just during his high school years, he would live in Alabama, Michigan, Arkansas and Kentucky following his dad’s career as a Cumberland Presbyterian preacher. “Cumberland is the oldest branch, founded on February 4, 1810, which I will never forget because where ever my dad was preaching, there was always a big celebration on that day,” said Haworth.
During high school, he excelled in a variety of sports from basketball to football to track and field where he qualified to go to the state competition for the quarter-mile dash. During his senior year at Madisonville High School in Madisonville, KY, he was surprised to be chosen to play football as a left offensive end, having never played before. It was 1956 when their team won the state championship. “My most prized possession is my letter jacket that states just that,” said Haworth.
After high school in 1957, Haworth attended Bethel College in McKenzie, TN, majoring in religion, with the goal to be a minister. He also pastored a small church for a year while in college called Cumberland Presbyterian. “I found I was enjoying too much what I’m preaching against so after the first year, changed my major to health and physical education,” said Haworth.
After two years of college, he was tired of going to school and decided to join the Army. It was October 1959 when he headed to bootcamp at Fort Hood, TX, then to Fort Ord, CA, to specialize in being a control clerk. Initially sent to Fort Dix, NJ, he would soon have orders to Orleans, France, with the 766th Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment via ship and train.
As a classified control clerk, he worked with classified and secret information contained in a steel safe that only he and his commanding officers had the combination to. During one of his assignments, a backup operator was needed to operate the cryptograph machine, where you had to have top secret clearance just to get into the room where it was kept. “One early morning the machine was going wild and I was woke up to retrieve the information,” said Haworth. “It simply said, ‘The US Army is now accepting volunteers for Vietnam.’”
He next applied and was accepted for Officer Candidate School (OCS) and agent training in the Intelligence Corps. After getting orders to go to Fort Holabird, MD, for agent training school and then to Fort Benning, GA, for OCS, he got a call from his mom saying his dad’s health was failing. He decided to leave the Army and return home after three years of service. He ended up going home on the same ship he left on, the US Naval Ship General Maurice Rose, which was its final voyage.
“I had never seen anything more beautiful than the Statue of Liberty coming into view as I returned home,” said Haworth.
He got a job working for a phone company in inventory and didn’t like it so went back to Bethel College and finished his health and physical education degree. Haworth’s first coaching job was at Wardell Junior High in Southeast, Missouri, coaching 7th grade boys’ basketball.
After two years, there was an opening in his home town of Sharon, TN, to coach boys’ football and girls’ basketball. At one point the girls’ team had to play against the team ranked number one in the state. “We got out there and at one point in the game, the coach asked me what the hell was I doing? I replied, I don’t know but we’re going to continue doing it. We ended up beating them. But a month later, we drew them for the district tournament and they beat us like step children.”
By this time, Haworth was married with one child, and one on the way, when he had the opportunity to work for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company as a production control scheduler. “I hated every day of it and yet I still drive Goodyear Tires,” said Haworth. After 11 years he started working as an estimator for Ryan Steel Products, a steel construction company. Basically, his job was reviewing building blue prints, reviewing all the steel that would be needed to build the project, and complete the purchase orders.
One time, when a customer said they didn’t have enough steel to construct the building, Haworth went to the site and shimmied-up a steel column, realizing as he looked down that they had put the steel in wrong. “I took pictures of it, went back to the office and boy did the fireworks go off,” said Haworth.
“The company declared bankruptcy over-night and I found myself flipping burgers at Krystal Hamburgers,” said Haworth. He soon became the store’s assistant manager where he likes to recall the day they cooked 4,000 Krystals after a football game, setting a store record. “Hated every day of it but I still love Krystals.”
He would go back to Bethel College, but this time as their admissions counselor where he traveled to all the high schools in the area, especially to their college fairs, to try to recruit kids to this small school of 600.
Reinventing the wheel again, he would make a difference as the executive director for two different chamber of commerce independent networks. First with Carroll County, although there were eight towns in this county, Haworth had to focus on Huntington and MacKenzie who were always arguing about high school sports, especially football and basketball. “I attended chamber of commerce college in Georgia and learned how to help them get along,” said Haworth.
He next was called to oversee the Marshall Texas City Chamber of Commerce, where the bickering and under-the-table stuff bothered Haworth. The biggest way the area made money was with their annual Winter Wonderland of Lights that drew folks to the area to patronage the hotels and restaurants. After a year, a friend called him to interview for a human resources position. Although the company was sold after two years, he moved to Martin, TN, where he was a human resource consultant supplying various industries with workers. “I was what they affectionately call a head hunter,” joked Haworth.
His next position may surprise you as being one of his most rewarding. He was a parole officer working for the State of Tennessee. “The first day I had to go to the state prison to interview someone, when those steel doors shut behind me, I froze,” said Haworth. “The guards said to me, ‘Don’t worry the door opens both ways.’”
There was one guy on parole who ended up shooting someone and Haworth got called to court. “The guy looked up at me and said, ‘You tried.’”
“I felt that I made a difference and did some good for people,” said Haworth. “There are jobs you can have where you don’t have to go to seminary to do some good.”
Haworth moved to Jacksonville, FL, 20 years ago to be close to his wife’s daughter.
“I should have made the military my career and I am mad and glad about it at the same time,” said Haworth. “The thing I miss the most about France is their escargot.
I wouldn’t do it again, but wouldn’t take a million dollars for the experiences I had and the relationships I shared.”
The words he lives by are very simple: yes and no. “Yes, this is the right thing to do or no, it’s not.” “And I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my faith. We pray every day and go to church every Sunday.