Industrialist.  Born in Chester, Pennsylvania and beginning life in humble circumstances, he co-founded the Lebanon Steel Foundry on December 11, 1911.  The original foundry building was a wooden shed, 100 feet long and 50 feet wide, and employed 20 men.  From this beginning the foundry progressed and in 1915 the Lebanon Steel Foundry became the first company to use electric furnaces for the production of commercial steel castings.  He advanced the reputation of the Lebanon Steel Foundry abroad, and in 1938, noted with interest the rivet-less armor plate with contoured surfaces being made by Germany which greatly reduced a tank’s vulnerability.  He worked to develop for the United States Government a program of research and development for armor plate, which proved to be an important factor in the Allied fighting forces during World War II.  He served variously as president of the Steel Founder’s Society of America, president of the Alloy Casting Association, president of the Alloy Casting Institute and served in World War II as a member of the Steel and Alloy Casting Advisory Committee of the War Production Board.  In 1948, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Metals for promoting the use of alloy steel castings throughout the American industry.

The bio above was written for Famous Graves on Find A Grave.  It was written in an impersonal format in support of the described style and standards of Find A Grave for Famous Grave sites.  However, William was anything but impersonal.

William Henry Worrilow was the eldest son of Charles Frank and Elizabeth Andrews Worrilow.  He was born March 8, 1877 in Chester, Pa and died June 22, 1962 in Lebanon, Pa.   One of nine children, he left school before completing the ninth grade to assist his father in the support of the large family; the elder Worrilow work as a letter carrier.

Meager Beginnings

His first job was with a Chester coal dealer at $2 a week.  For this he was required to clean the office, weigh coal and mix horse liniment.  However, when no pay was forthcoming after three months on the job, he decided to seek work elsewhere.

He next became a clerk for the Johnston Railroad Frog and Switch Company at $3 a week.  Of this sum, he gave one dollar to his parents, saved a dollar, and with the remaining dollar he hired two favorite school teachers, one in Mathematics and one in English, to tutor him in the evening.

His first business venture was a fruit and candy store in Chester.  It was a business effort that was short-lived, when half the cadet corps of Chester Military Academy became ill from an early batch of his fudge.  He later studied law for a year and then sold rubber goods, only to return eventually to an early interest created by an iron foundry near his home.

In 1892 he took a position as a junior clerk with the Standard Steel Casting Company in Chester and remained with its successor, the American Steel Casting Company, until 1904, when he had worked his way up to assistant district manager for Pittsburgh and later returned to Chester as sales manager for the same company.

In 1907, he became sales manager of the Lebanon Steel Casting Company and shared a common disappointment with the superintendent of the same company, Thomas S. Quinn, when they were both refused a request for a raise of $25 a month.  Quinn and Worrilow decided to leave that company and founded Lebanon Steel Foundry on December 11, 1911.  From a modest beginning the business progressed through the years to a position of prominence and leadership in the steel castings industry.

The plant’s top ranking leadership in the industry was achieved through the outstanding technical competence of Thomas Quinn and the salesmanship of William Worrilow.  The organization they built up continued the firm’s industrial leadership despite Quinn’s death.

The two partners, during Quinn’s lifetime, made many trips to steel castings plants in the foreign countries.  They brought to the local plant the latest ideas and technical knowledge gained on these trips, as well as top personnel to help integrate the newly acquired knowledge in the local plant’s operation.

William’s association with the Steel Foundry was only one of many facets of his active and busy life.  He was always in the forefront of efforts to improve the Lebanon area, of which he was extremely proud.  It was long recognized that when William H. Worrilow was engaged in a community enterprise that effort was due to achieve success.

His Work For Others

Always an avid reader and a student of history, Worrilow consistently tried to improve his own education and that of others, and frequently demonstrated interest in the school system and the compensation of teachers.

William always demonstrated his genuine interest in and great enthusiasm for people of the Lebanon Valley.  He originated and developed an historical calendar featuring sketches of historical events in this section.  He was instrumental in encouraging the establishment of scholarship opportunities for promising students of Lebanon County in grants to Lebanon Valley College, Yale University and Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, Conn., which provide educational opportunities for outstanding young people.

Lifelong Republican

A lifelong Republican, William Worrilow served as a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1948, 1952 and 1956.  He was also a former chairman of the Republican Finance Committee of Pennsylvania and for many years served as Republican finance chairman of Lebanon County. Never one to conceal his loyalties, when asked on his 85^th birthday to what he attributed his longevity he promptly replied with a smile “Marry a Pennsylvania Dutch girl like mine and vote the straight Republican ticket.”

Among his other activities, he was formerly a director of the research Institute of Temple University, a vice president of the Pennsylvania German Folklore Society, a member of the Pennsylvania German Society, a member of the Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania and chairman of the Lebanon Valley Committee of the Newcomen Society of England.

He was formerly president and director of the Philadelphia Post, American Ordnance Association; a member of the National Association of Manufacturers, a member of the National Security Industrial Association, and a member of the United States Chamber of Commerce and the Lebanon County Chamber of Commerce and was a former president of the county unit.

Held Honorary Degree

William served for nearly twenty years as a director of the Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster.  A long-time trustee of Lebanon Valley College, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws by Lebanon Valley College in 1948.  One of the very earliest presidents of the Lebanon Country Club, he never thought that his golf game justified such distinction.  He was active in the Boy Scouts and was awarded the Silver Beaver for his service.  The Silver Beaver is the highest local award that can be attained by an adult.

Favorite Verses

As word of his passing was received by the legion of friends and associates, members of the family recalled his favorite verses by Robert Southey.  He read these on the night a few hours before he was stricken.

The verses, which speak most eloquently of his attitude toward life and the attitude of the community toward him, are:

“You are old, Father William” the young man cried,
“The few locks that are left you are gray;
You are hale, Father William, a hearty old man
Now tell me the reason I pray.”

“In the days of my youth,” father William replied,
“I remembered that youth could not last;
I thought of the future, whatever I did,
That I never might grieve for the past.”

William Worrilow was member of the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and of the Masons and various branches of this fraternity.

Much of this was taken from the Lebanon Daily News dated, June 22, 1962 from a front page article on the life of William H. Worrilow.  By some accounts, he was the first Worrilow genealogists and even named this home in Lebanon, Pa., Brasenhill after the home place of Christopher Worrilow of Haughton, Staffordshire, England.

He married the former Pauline Light in 1917 and they had the four children:

Emily Louise Worrilow – Born 21 January 1918 in Lebanon, Pa., died 1978 in Lebanon, Pa.

William Henry Worrilow, Jr. – born 7 March 1920 in Lebanon, Pa., died 12 February 2001 in Lebanon, Pa.

John Light Worrilow

Pauline Ann Worrilow