Ms. Nancy L. Worley of New Hope and Montgomery was Alabama’s Secretary of State from 2003 to 2007. Worley’s tenure as Secretary of State included substantial reforms, including longer and uniform polling hours, voter identification, and automatic recounts in close races.
After graduation from New Hope High School, where she was in the top ten of her class and was Homecoming Queen and Miss New Hope High School, Nancy attended the University of Montevallo, earning a B.A. degree with highest honors in 1973 and was named Alumnus of the Year in 1990. She continued her education at Jacksonville State University, earning her M.A. degree in 1975.
Worley spent twenty-five years at Decatur High School teaching Latin and English and sponsoring cheerleaders and student clubs. She was a part-time instructor for John C. Calhoun and Northeast State Community Colleges. Her former students attribute her strict, demanding, yet highly interesting classes as responsible for much of their success in later life. She received various teaching awards, including twice-named Teacher of the Year; nominated to the Teacher Hall of Fame; and honored by the Alabama Jaycees as Alabama’s Outstanding Young Educator. She was included in Good Housekeeping’s “100 Young Women of Promise” and was named by The Decatur Daily as one of the “Twenty Leaders of Decatur.”
She was twice elected as President of the Alabama Education Association, serving from 1983-84 and 1995-97. Nancy was a tireless spokesperson for education, believing that public education “is the highest yielding, lowest-risk investment that we can make in our nation’s future.” In addition to serving as AEA President, she was President of the Decatur Education Association, the Alabama Foreign Language Teachers Association, Opportunity Toastmistress Club, and the Alabama Classical Association. She served twice as President of the Association of Classroom Teachers, twice as State President of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma International Society of Women Educators.
In retirement, Nancy served a term on the Alabama Education Retirees Association Board, served on association committees, and was a delegate to both the Alabama Education Association Delegate Assembly and the National Education Association Representative Assembly. She was recognized with the Educator Award by the Alabama Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.
Worley was elected in 2013 as Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party, serving long hours without pay until 2019. She was a member of the State Democratic Executive Committee for five terms and was elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention several times. She served on the Governor’s Task Force on Welfare Reform, the Governor’s Task Force on Education Reform, the Lt. Governor’s Legislative Council, and numerous other state and national policy committees. As a member of the Tuition Eligibility Board, she worked to provide scholarships to the families of deceased police officers and firefighters. Nancy lobbied with the AARP Capital City Task Force on Senior Citizen issues, among many other activities.
Nancy loved books, theatre, concerts, good speakers, travel, lunch with friends, and collecting antiques. She credited her reading of the Bible and numerous teachers, church, community, civic and political leaders with teaching her the value of hard work, the importance of education, the need for involvement in community and causes, and respect for the dignity of all persons. She dedicated her life to making a difference and to serving others.
Nancy Worley passed away peacefully among family and friends in a Montgomery hospital on Wednesday, December 29, 2021. She was predeceased by her partner of 49 years, Wade Lipscomb, Jr., and her parents Leonard “Si” and Lillian Smith Worley of New Hope. She is survived by uncles, cousins, and a multitude of friends.
