Vol For Life Baseball Player Jim Worthington's Ceremonial Services Set

The Tennessee Baseball program was hit with some heavy news recently as one of their own passed away days before the new year kicked off.

Jim Worthington is a former Tennessee Vols baseball player who played for the Vols back in 1947 and concluded his season in 1949 after earning varsity letters for his final two seasons. He was a catcher for the Vols and was someone who had a ton of talent in his time as a player.

Worthington passed away peacefully on December 28th, 2025, just prior to his next birthday, which he would have turned 101 years old. The former Vols baseball player was the oldest living letter winner for the Vols before his passing.

Worthington was born in Sheffield, Alabama, in 2025, but would later reside in the Norcross, Georgia area. He graduated from the University of Tennessee following his service in World War 2, a war that would later go down in history as one of the more talked about wars to ever exist.

The former Tennessee player will be honored in the great state of Tennessee, but not in Knoxville. Recent information has released that he will be honored on January 24th in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at the Baylor School, which is the same school that the Vols often check out for recruiting purposes in nearly every sport. The event will begin at 1:00 P.M. EST, but guests will begin to come in around 11:30 AM EST. This will be an indoor event, which is set to be held in the lobby of the Baylor School Chapel. The former Vol was also a coach at Baylor for quite some time. Here is some information, as the obituary is quoted below.

"James Albert Worthington, Jr. “Jim” passed away peacefully on December 28, 2025, after a 100-plus year, highly productive, accomplished, inspiring, and generous life journey centered in service to others. Born August 26, 1925, in Knoxville, Tennessee, as the oldest child of J.A. Worthington, Sr. and Edna Scates Worthington, Jim was a graduate of the University of Tennessee and a three-year baseball letterman after his honorable service in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. While at UT, Jim developed a personal relationship with legendary coach General Robert Neyland, which ultimately led him into the coaching profession. It was during his early coaching career in McMinnville, Tennessee, that he met the love of his life, Sallye Webb, whom he would soon after marry. They moved to Chattanooga to teach and coach at Baylor School and raise their three sons, Jim (Becki), Bob (Piper), and Bill (Leslie). During his 17 years at Baylor, he became the head football and baseball coach, and was known as a man of great principle, discipline, and integrity through the example that he set for his students, players, and contemporaries on the faculty and throughout the coaching ranks in the Chattanooga area. Thereafter, he spent several years at UT Chattanooga, coaching football as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator before retiring from the coaching profession to pursue interests in business and public service opportunities. Jim established Jim Worthington Realty, primarily to perform appraisals of single-family and commercial real estate properties in the Hamilton County area. It was then that Governor Lamar Alexander asked Jim to serve as the Hamilton County representative on the statewide Tennessee Real Estate Commission, a position that he accepted and which led to him being elected as the Chief Commissioner for the Tennessee Real Estate Commission, a role he held for 10 years. The number of Chattanooga-based boards and other civic purpose organizations on which Jim served are too many to mention. However, one notable exception was his 10 years of service on the Board of Trustees for Chattanooga’s Erlanger Hospital, a position in which he became particularly invigorated because of the opportunity to help enhance occupational, operational, and service efficiencies to patients, employees, and stakeholders of the Erlanger system. Clearly, Jim was happiest when he was helping to positively impact the lives of others. If the value of one’s life is ultimately measured less by how high they may have climbed and more by how many they helped lift up along the way, then Jim’s life was surely a treasure. Jim’s long and distinguished life led him to hold many names and titles. Whitey (as an athlete), Coach, JAWS, Nails, Trustee, Commissioner, and perhaps a few less flattering, which were likely uttered by a player or two during those steamy August football “dog days,” were among the many. But it was being known as Sallye’s husband, followed closely by Dad to his boys and G-Daddy to his 6 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, in which Jim delighted the most. Moreover, his family pridefully delighted equally that each was able to call him by these names and to lay claim to him as being theirs to love and admire. Jim was preceded in death by his parents, two siblings, his wife Sallye Webb Worthington, his son Jim III, daughter-in-law Becki, granddaughter Michelle, and great-grandson William. Jim is survived by his son Bob (Piper) and grandchildren Webb (Georgia), Maggie (Craig), and Will (Carly), along with son Bill (Leslie) and grandchildren Emily (Matt) and Bobby (Erin), plus 12 great-grandchildren. The family plans a private family interment in Chattanooga National Cemetery and a celebration of life service at the Baylor School chapel on January 24th at 1:00 pm.The family will receive guest beginning at 11:30 am in the lobby of the Baylor School Chapel. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made in Jim’s honor to Baylor School (www.baylorschool.org/giving), Wesleyan School (www.wesleyanschool.org/giving/give-now), Erlanger Hospital, or to any charity of your choosing. Arrangements entrusted to Lane Funeral Home, 601 Ashland Terrace, Chattanooga, TN 37415, (423) 877-3524, lanefh.com"

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