DWIGHT I. WORRELL, LCDR, USN
Dwight Worrell '57
Lucky Bag
From the 1957 Lucky Bag:
DWIGHT IRVING WORRELL
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Dwight came to Navy Tech, after attending a year of Junior College at Fort Dodge. He liked to travel and to take moving pictures of places he visited. The summer cruises at Navy gave him plenty of opportunity for both. Dwight spent a good portion of his time on the books, but that didn't prevent him from participating in sports, notably basketball — he was a member of the varsity team. Most of his dragging was devoted to writing letters, until a certain young lady from the Mid-west became a resident of Crabtown.
DWIGHT IRVING WORRELL
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Dwight came to Navy Tech, after attending a year of Junior College at Fort Dodge. He liked to travel and to take moving pictures of places he visited. The summer cruises at Navy gave him plenty of opportunity for both. Dwight spent a good portion of his time on the books, but that didn't prevent him from participating in sports, notably basketball — he was a member of the varsity team. Most of his dragging was devoted to writing letters, until a certain young lady from the Mid-west became a resident of Crabtown.
Shipmate
From the April 1975 issue of Shipmate:
LCdr. Dwight Irving Worrell, USN, died 9 July in an airplane crash on a farm six miles from Naples, Italy. Services were held at Laufersweiler Funeral Home, Fort Dodge LA, followed by interment with military honors in St. Olaf Cemetery.
LCdr. Worrell, a native of Iowa, was graduated from the Naval Academy in 1957. A Naval Aviator, he was killed, along with seven other Navy men, when their TA3B Skywarrior crashed after take-off from Naples' Capodichino Airport on its way back to Rota, Spain.
He is survived by his widow, Mona Gay, a son, and a daughter.
Flickr has a photograph of the exact aircraft that was lost.
He is buried in Iowa.
Family
He married to Mona Gay Thompson June 6th 1957 at the Naval Academy; his mother also survived him. Dwight and Mona were married for 17 years before he was killed.
They had two children, Denise Lynn Worrell born March 14, 1958, and Dwight I Worrell Jr. born March 23, 1962. Mona Gay Thompson lived with her son Dwight Jr. until her death on November 6, 2013 in Brentwood, California. She never dated or remarried after Dwight's death. Dwight's son Dwight Jr. followed in his dad's footsteps and became a pilot himself. Dwight Jr. is married to Genevieve Worrell and they have three children: Dwight I. Worrell III, Trevor G. Worrell and Danielle Depuy-Grobbel.
Remembrances
My dad loved to fly airplanes, taking his family on vacations across the country and around the world, hunting and fishing and spending time with his family. I remember hearing a story from when he was at the Naval Academy that he and his best friend Bruce Purvis took one of the canons from the academy grounds and placed it into the Dean's office. He had a great career in the navy as a pilot for nearly 20 years. He flew the A-3 Skywarrior and was decorated several times for valor and received several medals including the "Navy Achievement Medal" for saving two F-4 Phantoms in Vietnam by refueling them and escorting them back to the carrier USS Coral Sea. Both planes had suffered damage and may not have made it back alone. Later in his career he flew A-3s (TA-3B and VA-3B) which were A-3s converted into VIP transports. He flew Navy VIP's and congressman around. He continued to do this until being transferred to the VQ-2 squadron in Rota Spain in 1972. Dwight I. Worrell, Jr.
Related Articles
Charles Swope '57 and Bruce Purvis '57 were also in 15th Company.
Dwight is one of 38 members of the Class of 1957 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
