Archives West Finding Aid

Henry O. "Bill" Worden was born at 328 East Pine Street in Missoula, Montana, on August 21, 1912. His father, also Henry, was the oldest son of Missoula settler Francis Lyman Worden, who founded Worden and Company at the town of Hellgate in 1860. He grew up in Ravalli and Ronan, Montana, where his father was the bookkeeper for A. M. Sterling Co. When Worden was fourteen, his father died and the family moved to Missoula, where Bill graduated from high school in 1930. Worden attended Sedan's Preparatory School in Washington, DC, for a year prior to attending the University of Montana, from which he graduated in 1935.

From the time of his father's death, Worden worked many part-time jobs to support his mother, mainly as an elevator operator in downtown Missoula buildings. He worked as a timekeeper for Montana Power Company during the construction of Kerr Dam until he was hired in 1938 by Western Bank in Missoula as a messenger and transit clerk. Except while serving in the US Navy in World War II, he spent his career at the bank, including a stint at the company's Livingston bank, until he retired in 1977 as vice president in the commercial department. Worden and his wife started a small public relations company, Worden and Co., in 1979; his son expanded this business into real estate.

In 1958, Worden married Valerie Kennedy Rice, who died of leukemia in 1960. His second wife, Tommie Lu Middleton, was a native of Deer Lodge, where she was the state prison warden's daughter. They had three children: Peggy, Hank, and Willie (Austin).

Worden joined the Montana state legislature in 1966 as a Republican state representative. In addition to serving in the 40th, 41st, and 42nd legislatures, Worden was also a member of the Legislative Post Audit Committee. He retired from the legislature in 1973.

He was also active in several community organizations, including the Lion's Club, Red Cross, and the Salvation Army. Both Bill and Tommie Lu were honored as distinguished alumni at the University of Montana in 1990.

Worden died in Missoula on June 6, 1995, at the age of 82.