Tennyson Lucious Whorton, Jr., age 90, passed away peacefully at Twilight Home in Corsicana, Texas on Friday, July 21, 2023. Known as Tenny or Ty, he was born in Kerens, Texas on December 29, 1932 to mother Frances Etta Leverett Whorton and father Tennyson Lucious Whorton.

He leaves two daughters, Vicki Jeanne Whorton Miller of Kailua, Hawaii and Katherine Hall Marsh-Smith of Houston; two grandchildren, David and Katie Marsh of Houston; two sons-in-law, Mark Miller and Kenneth Smith, and Jenny Lee Adams of Dallas (like a daughter). He is preceded in death by his wife, Shirley Hall in 1999.

The Memorial Service for Tenny will be held at Paschal Funeral Home in Kerens, Texas on Saturday, August 12, 2023 at 11:00 am. Please come visit with the family starting at 10:15 am.

Tenny grew up in Kerens where his mother, father and paternal grandparents farmed and ranched. He graduated from Kerens High School in 1950 and then attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. After that he attended Duke Divinity School where he received a master's degree. It was there that he met the love of his life, Shirley Hall of Roanoke, Virginia. They were married in 1958 in Roanoke and lived in Boston, Massachusetts where Shirley taught school and he attended Boston University graduate school.

After one year they moved back to Texas and happily raised a family. Tenny worked for various companies in Texas and Kansas City, (Overland Park), Kansas. He loved the traveling his job required. In 1974 they moved from Overland Park to Dallas and lived there until retirement. Vicki graduated from Texas A&M University and Katherine graduated from The University of North Texas.

During his working years, Tenny was active in retail management and advertising with Tandy Corporation of Fort Worth, Avon in Kansas City, Morgan Buildings and Spas, and Leather Center in Dallas. In his early years he was a minister in Evant, Texas and then went on to become a reporter for five years with the Houston Post. He enjoyed reporting and met some notables over the years including Lyndon B. Johnson. He was thrilled when he landed a one-on-one interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and his wife, Coretta.

After retirement Tenny and Shirley enjoyed living at their lake house on Cedar Creek Lake. After Shirley's passing, Tenny moved back to Kerens and wrote often for his hometown paper, The Kerens Tribune. He also enjoyed traveling and visited Hawaii many times (his first trip being in 1951 with his father) since his daughters lived there. He would say he had to go over just to make sure they were OK! He also enjoyed visiting family in Houston and Galveston.

Tenny loved playing tennis. He was the doubles and singles champ at Nall Hills Country Club in Overland Park. He then took up flying, buying a Cessna 140, a Cessna 170 (which he landed in the cow field on the Whorton farm, jumping barbed wire fences to do it), then an aerobatic Starduster and lastly a Pitts aerobatic airplane. He also owned a sailboat for a short time that his buddies aptly named the "TyPanic."

Tenny loved his family, loved Kerens and loved the land. He and his buddies were some of the best storytellers around. His family is thankful to God for giving them "Pa." He was generous, kind, caring and loving, and his passing leaves a huge puka (hole) in our hearts. We are thankful he loved Jesus and is in Heaven right now with our mom and the many dear ones who have gone before him. Our hearts are filled with gratitude for all of those who loved him and called him family and friend. God bless each one of you.