Blacks@Dartmouth 1775 to 1960

Died - on Saturday, January 18, 1986 at the Scottsdale, Arizona Convalescent Plaza. Dr. Wormley was born on November 4 1906 in Washington, D.C. to Mamie Louise Cheatham Wormley and G. Smith Wormley, who was then the principal of Randall Junior High School, Washington, D.C. Both of Dr. Wormley's parents came from longstanding, well-known Washington, D.C. families.

His paternal great-grandfather, James Wormley, owned a hotel in Washington, D.C. at 15th & H Sts. It was there that Charles Sumner lived and died, and it was also there that the Wormley House Agreement took place in 1877, an agreement that settled the Presidential election in 1876. Dr. Wormley's maternal grandfather, Henry Plummer Cheatham, a Republican Congressman from North Carolina, also lived in the district.

Dr. Wormley was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1927 where he stayed on for a two-year course of medical education. He then returned to Washington to complete his four years of medical training at the Howard University Medical School, where he finished with honors in 1931. He did his residency at Harlem Hospital in New York City, where he practiced until he joined the U.S. Army in 1941.

In World War II, Dr. Wormley served as Captain in the Medical Corps at Fort Huachuca Regional Hospital. Following his honorable discharge from the Army, he was appointed Senior Medical Officer in charge of surgery at Poston Regional Hospital in Parker, Ariz. In 1946, he began the practice of medicine in Phoenix, a practice he continued for almost 40 years.

Dr. Wormley was also engaged in numerous civic activities. He served on the staff of eight Phoenix hospitals as Chairman of the Board of the Arizona State Hospital. He also served on the boards of the Arizona Medical Society, the Salvation Army and the Maricopa Council of Campfire Girls of Arizona. He was a life member of the NAACP and served on the Board of the Phoenix Chapter. He also served as President of Phoenix Chapter of Dartmouth Alumni and was honored for his successful efforts to have his alma mater enroll American Indians, for whom Dartmouth College was originally established.

Dr. Wormley is survived by his wife, Olivia Alexander Wormley; a daughter, Diane Anderson; a son by a previous marriage, Lowell, Jr.; his sisters, Edith Derrick and Mavis Davis; two nephews, Dr. John A. Davis, Jr.; Attorney Smith W. Davis; and a granddaughter, Melissa.