William Jack Worlton, age 94, passed away on December 20, 2021 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Jack was born on June 5, 1927 to William Joel and Elsie Mary Worlton in Rexburg, Idaho. Jack grew up in the small town of Sugar City, Idaho with four siblings -- Beth, Arla, Tom, and Reid. Growing up, he studied hard, served in student government, and worked on the many beet and potato farms in the area.
During World War II, Jack volunteered and served in the United States Navy from 1945 through 1947 as an Aviation Radioman on land-based patrol bombers. After his release from the Navy, he served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Southern States Mission. He then attended Utah State University on the G.I. Bill.
Jack married Lois Fackrell on June 1, 1951. This began their marriage of dedication, adventure, work, love, and respect. On their 70th wedding anniversary, Jack shared some guiding principles of their happy marriage, including: “I will do anything and everything in my power to assure the happiness of the one I love” and “I will respect my spouse as an equal partner in all things”.
Jack graduated with honors from Utah State University with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics. After graduate studies, he accepted a position at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory where he excelled for over 30 years and received a lifetime appointment as a Laboratory Fellow. He was a pioneer in supercomputing, which he saw as a “true voyage of discovery”. He lectured and consulted in over 19 countries around the world and found the work “interesting, important, challenging, and rewarding”.
Jack had a great love of the outdoors. He was an avid fly fisherman, backpacker, and hiker with affinity for the Wasatch Mountains and Southern Utah. He and Lois spent many winters exploring and studying the red rock around St. George, Utah. On his adventures, he took many beautiful floral and wildlife photographs.
Jack valued nonconformity, doing things right, and persistence. The quintessential intellectual, Jack was a voracious reader and an excellent writer. He co-wrote five history books with Lois. He loved studying philosophy, history, languages, and the Old Testament with a multi-year focus on the book of Job. His family members were the happy recipients of his delicious bread baking and witty poetry endeavors. He treasured time with his family who adored him.
Jack was preceded in death by his parents and sisters Beth and Arla. He is survived by his brothers Reid (Marilyn) and Tom (Sharon), his loving wife Lois; daughters Kathryn (Brad), Mary (Dave), and Janice (Doug); nine grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren
