TIMOTHY R. WORLINE, 1943-2014

Swanton engineer ran firm with children

2/3/2014

SWANTON — Timothy R. Worline, who worked as a civil engineer until his death and a longtime deacon for his parish, died Jan. 30 in his Swanton home.

Mr. Worline, 70, died of esophageal cancer, his family said.

Mr. Worline, a lifelong civil engineer, began his career at Owens-Illinois Inc., followed by AVCA Corp., before starting T.R. Worline & Associates Inc. in 1976.

“He had a passion for structural engineering, but he was a jack of all trades,” said his son Tim, who with siblings Tom and Anne worked for their father as engineers.

Most of the firm’s work was in northwest Ohio, although some projects took him to the East and West coasts as well as to the Dominican Republic, son Tim said.

“We did some pretty big projects in the 1980s and 1990s,” including a substantial plant addition in Pennsylvania for Owens-Illinois.

Tom said as a rebellious teenager, he didn’t want to do anything associated with his parents, but after working summers for his father, he changed his mind, switched colleges and majors, and followed his footsteps.

“I worked with him until the day he died,” Tom Worline said.

Mr. Worline retired in 2009, and his firm became part of the JDI Group Inc. in Maumee, for which he continued working part-time until he became ill around Thanksgiving, son Tim said.

Mr. Worline was born on Feb. 16, 1943, in Toledo, to Arlo and Mary Ellen Worline.

He grew up in Monclova and graduated in 1961 from Anthony Wayne High School, where he was a four-year athlete in multiple sports.

He obtained a bachelor of science in civil engineering from the University of Toledo on Jan. 26, 1966, and three days later, married Patricia Ann Conner.

The couple knew each other from elementary school but began a serious relationship when he entered the university, Mrs. Worline said.

She said her husband developed an interest in the diaconate after the couple had their third child.

At the urging of his pastor at St. Richard, he began the six-year program at the University of Dayton, where he earned a master’s degree in theological studies. He was ordained in 1982 and served his parish through 2013, his wife said.

“When he was young, he had nuns in grade school who told him he’d be a good priest,” Mrs. Worline said. “But I guess I had got in the way of that.”

Tim Worline said his father considered his true calling to “be a father and family man.”

He and his wife were long involved in the parish’s Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults to develop new members, and as deacon, Mr. Worline gave homilies at Mass and performed other functions in support of the parish.

He was a pilot and owned two airplanes at times. He first obtained his pilot’s license as a young man working at Toledo Express Airport but let it lapse as his career and family grew.

He late resumed his passion for flying and regained his license, using it to fly to a cottage at Rice Lake, Ontario, to fish, as well as to reach destinations closer to Swanton.

He was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association chapter at the Fulton County airport.

Mr. Worline is survived by his wife of 48 years, Patricia Worline; daughters Michelle McVey, Anne Hutchinson, and Erin Biler; sons Tim and Tom Worline; 12 grandchildren; sister Theresa Cleland, and brothers Dan, Luke, and Martin Worline.

Visitation for Mr. Worline will begin at 10 a.m. today at St. Richard Catholic Church, Swanton, where a Mass of Resurrection will be said at 11 a.m.

Weigel Funeral Home, Swanton, handled his arrangements.

Memorials are suggested to the American Cancer Society, Hospice of Northwest Ohio, or the Arthritis foundation.

Contact Jim Sielicki at: jsielicki@theblade.com or 419-724-6050.