Rich Archbold: Jim Worsham honored for creating the premier Long Beach Community Foundation

As a kid increasing up successful Long Beach, Jim Worsham learned the worth of a dollar by moving assorted jobs. He delivered newspapers, mowed lawns, babysat, pumped state and worked arsenic a edifice autobus lad and drugstore clerk.

He treasured a metallic dollar fixed to him by his boyhood idol, Hopalong Cassidy, astatine a circus. It wasn’t a existent metallic dollar, but that’s what Hoppy called the circular portion of aluminum helium passed retired to his young fan.

Worsham remembered these aboriginal boyhood memories arsenic helium was honored past week for the crowning accomplishment of his 79 years connected world successful having the imaginativeness to make the Long Beach Community Foundation — which is celebrating its 25th anniversary  this year. Friends and household gathered astatine the Museum of Latin American Art Wednesday, Oct. 20, to toast Worsham, who contributed the archetypal $1,000 to the instauration successful 1996 and has seen that comparatively tiny magnitude turn to a whopping $65 cardinal successful assets this year.

Marcelle Epley, who succeeded Worsham arsenic instauration president and CEO successful 2014, said it gave her “supreme joyousness to ticker Jim beam arsenic we listed the foundation’s accomplishments, which would not person been imaginable without his leadership, imaginativeness and tenacity for the archetypal 18 years.”

“The LBCF is genuinely his instauration and ever volition be,” Epley said. “I proceed to beryllium honored to support the torch brightly lit successful his honor.”

Jean Bixby Smith, a subordinate of 1 of Long Beach’s pioneering families and a founding subordinate of the Community Foundation, praised Worsham for his enactment successful creating an enactment that has “such a affirmative interaction connected Long Beach.”

Foundation committee President Gary DeLong welcomed guests and besides praised Worsham for his leadership.

“I’m overwhelmed by this,” Worsham said arsenic the assemblage applauded.

Worsham has travel a agelong mode since helium was calved connected Feb. 2, 1942, successful St. Louis, wherever his begetter was an security salesman.

His begetter got a occupation successful Southern California and moved his household to Pacific Palisades connected Worsham’s 8th birthday. Worsham’s begetter started his ain security agency, Worsham & Associates, successful Long Beach and moved the household to the metropolis successful 1952. The younger Worsham went to simple schoolhouse successful Long Beach and graduated from Wilson High School successful 1960.

As an adult, Worsham continued moving astatine unusual jobs. He was a laborer connected a span operation crew. He delivered prescriptions for pharmacies. And helium adjacent sat connected stakeouts and followed radical for a backstage detective.

Worsham besides was an creator and had aspirations of earning a surviving from his creativity.

In 1960, helium entered Cal State Long Beach, which was past called Long Beach State College. It didn’t cookware out.

“I didn’t consciousness my teacher truly understood art, and I mislaid interest,” Worsham said. “I flunked retired but went backmost later.”

In the meantime, helium kept engaged by landing an apprenticeship with the Pacific Outdoor Advertising Co.

But aft 7 years of coating pictures connected billboards, Worsham decided helium wanted to instrumentality concern classes truthful helium could get into management. He returned to academia, archetypal astatine Long Beach City College and past backmost to Cal State Long Beach — wherever helium got an “A” successful accounting and a bachelor’s grade successful concern administration.

Once Worsham graduated, helium interviewed with 10 accounting firms, got offers from 8 of them and yet accepted a presumption with Arthur Young & Company.

How did helium spell from being an creator to a vocation successful accounting?

“I don’t know,” helium told me. “A batch of radical kid maine astir the close encephalon and near encephalon stuff. I similar doing both.”

With him during astir of his travel aft precocious schoolhouse was his wife-to-be, who helium met portion attending Cal State Long Beach.

On Wednesday night, Jean Bixby Smith told the communicative of however Worsham and his aboriginal wife, Patti, met.

“Jim and his person had secured a premier country spot wherever they could spot everyone driving by astatine the fashionable Hody’s Restaurant,” Smith said. “While waiting for the carhop, a mates of girls pulled up adjacent to his car, and that was however helium met Patti. The adjacent day, Patti ditched schoolhouse to spell to the Riverside Road Races with this amusive caller guy.”

Jim and Patti Worsham wed successful 1964 and person been happily joined for 57 years, Smith said. The aged Hody’s Restaurant is gone, but the Worshams inactive stock an involvement successful car events. They person 2 children, Tracy and Scott, and 5 grandchildren.

They emotion traveling and person been to each 50 states and adjacent much countries. They spent a batch of clip riding connected Harley-Davidson’s motorcycles, but Worsham said helium has fixed that up, partially due to the fact that of the coronavirus pandemic. At 1 time, helium was treasurer of the section Harley-Davidson HOG chapter.

But Worsham has galore eclectic interests.

He was president of the Long Beach Rotary Club. He taught a book survey people for astir 20 years. He has written question columns for the Grunion Gazette (also owned, similar the Press-Telegram, by the Southern California News Group). He started “Wow” — oregon “Walk connected Wednesday” — club, with members gathering successful Belmont Shore and strolling astir 4 miles each week.

And Worsham is president of the “Club of Harps,” for those who emotion to play the harmonica. He likes playing the harmonica due to the fact that it has a large dependable and you tin transportation it with you anywhere.

Call him up and helium volition get members unneurotic and play for you.

Worsham is besides the manager of peculiar projects for the section Porsche Club. He owns a 2006 Porsche, with a licence sheet reading, “CACHET.” Why that name?

“I wanted a connection licence sheet alternatively of a fig truthful I came up with cutesy benignant of names,” Worsham said, “but Patti said the Porsche was a truly bully car, which needed a sanction with a small much cachet. That’s a large name, I said, and truthful it went connected my plate.”

Despite each of these interests, Worsham has ne'er mislaid show of 1 of his large goals successful life: to assistance radical and marque Long Beach a amended place.

He has succeeded.

The Community Foundation became autarkic successful 2006, aft initially being founded arsenic an affiliate of the California Community Foundation. Worsham brought philanthropists and assemblage leaders unneurotic to turn the instauration into what it is contiguous — premier steward of endowment funds successful Long Beach.

The instauration besides received a assistance from the Knight Foundation and spearheaded what became known arsenic the Connected Corridor project, making betterment to and bringing the assemblage unneurotic on Atlantic Avenue, from downtown to North Long Beach.

A idiosyncratic note: The instauration has partnered with the Press-Telegram to negociate donations the paper receives from readers for its Send-a-Kid-to-Camp program, which sends kids to upland camps each summer. Since the programme began 22 years ago, much than $1.5 cardinal has been raised to nonstop kids to camps operated by the city’s Big 5 younker agencies, YMCA of Greater Long Beach, Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach, Camp Fire Los Angeles, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

The Community Foundation has grown implicit the years to assistance galore much Long Beach nonprofits.

“All of this has happened due to the fact that of Jim Worsham,” Epley said. “He genuinely is the begetter of the Long Beach Community Foundation.”

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