Hayworth retiring after 14 years

Jean Hayworth will leave a legacy of service to her country and the city of Breckenridge when she retires from the Breckenridge American today and moves on to the next chapter in her life.

At the age of 18, Hayworth enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and was discharged when her three-year enlistment ended Aug. 30, 1962. While in the military, she was in the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) program from Dec. 1, 1959, until she was discharged in August 1962.

She met her husband while they were both stationed in Hawaii and was able to leave three months early with him as he transitioned to the U.S. Air Force. The two married in Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii, in the U.S. NAVCOMMSTA (Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station) #85 in April 1962.

Hayworth and her husband were stationed in Athens, Greece, when the last king of Greece, King Constantine II, was kicked out of the country, April 21, 1967, and a five-general coup took over. While they were stationed in Greece, their youngest child, Michael Gene, was born at Izmir, Turkey. The couple also was stationed in Biloxi, MS, for Hurricane Camille, and for a period were stationed in Heidelberg and Stuttgart, Germany, from 1972 to 1975. She moved with her husband until he had a combined 22 years of service before “retiring” to Breckenridge in 1975.

She attended college at Tarleton State University and graduated on Mother’s Day 1980 and started teaching sixth grade at East Elementary School in Breckenridge ISD. She taught at the elementary school for three years before moving to Breckenridge Junior High School for five year and taught U.S. History and computers on a 1977 TRS-80 Micro Computer System. For about six years, Hayworth took students to Washington D.C. for Spring Break. In 1987, she started teaching at Breckenridge High School, where she taught until she retired in 2005, after 25 years of teaching. She taught Social Studies, World Geography and World History, Government/Economics, Social Sciences and AP U.S. History. She also taught at the Texas Governor’s Honors Program at Lamar University in the summer from 1982-1992.

After retiring from teaching in 2005, she went to work at the Breckenridge American newspaper two years later in June 2007. She started as a lifestyles editor for about five years and then moved to be a stringer for various newspaper content which involved feature articles, wrecks, fires, etc. She was the interim editor for around eight months in 2018, before becoming a stringer and then back to full-time coverage at the paper as a receptionist and staff writer from January 2020 to her retirement this week. During her time with the paper she wrote a column called “Historically Speaking”, as well as a column titled “Decade of the Bucks 1950s Football,” which she said she would consider making into a book.

Hayworth retires today, Sept. 1, and one day later will be celebrating her 80th birthday. Her and her husband had three children in total: Patti and Skip (Marcus), born in Norfolk, VA, and Michael. She said following her retirement she will be looking into a hobby in stained glass and mosaic crosses and reading through her personal library.

Hayworth has left her mark on the newspaper, the community of Breckenridge and the country through her tireless efforts to provide the news and an education to the youth of the city as well as her dedicated military service to the country.