Friends remember Chambersburg homeless man for his manners and time spent on a park bench

CHAMBERSBURG -- Mike Worden died with little more than respect and a park bench.

 Worden spent more than a decade living on the streets of Chambersburg.

“Mike always had respect for everyone,” said Mary Stache, who works at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. “He would come into the store to get the key for the bathroom. He’d say ‘hi’ and ‘excuse me.’ It didn’t get him down that he was staying in the cold weather shelters.”

Worden often was seen sitting on the bench beside the Chambersburg Rail Trail at the footbridge.

“He always sat on that bench,” said Craig Newcomer, director of the Chambersburg Cold Weather Drop-In Shelter. “He slept on that bench, and he stayed by that bench. His home was pretty much that bench.”

Michael J. Worden died on Dec. 23 of complications from a massive stroke, according to Newcomer said. He was 63.

Worden is remembered not so much for what he accomplished or for the things he had, as for the way he treated people. Few of his friends knew about his past. There was even confusion among his acquaintances at his death as how to spell his last name.

“He was a gentle man and a kind soul,” Newcomer said. “He couldn’t get past that depression of losing his son.”

But for all his internal demons, Worden earned the respect of others.

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A service is being planned in the spring at the bench. There’s talk of putting a plaque on it in his memory.

Newcomer said he had known Worden for 14 years. Worden was among the chronically homeless who choose not to be in shelters, but choose to live in their cars or elsewhere.

On any given day, Franklin County has a homeless population of 100 to 200 people and 82 beds, in winter, to accommodate them.

Worden, a respected "muscle-car mechanic back in the day,” never got over losing his son in a crash, Newcomer said. Someone ran a stop sign and broadsided the car. Worden retreated to an alcohol-induced depression. He lost his wife, and his family disowned him, Newcomer said. 

Recently Newcomer had visited Worden at the bench, and Worden failed to recognize him.

“He was saying things off the wall,” Newcomer said. “Once I brought my son with me, he recognized who I was. We were like best friends.”

Worden had not been to the cold weather shelter this year, Newcomer said. Worden got an apartment on Queen Street, but started to show signs of dementia and schizophrenia.

“He was starting to have a mental crisis within himself and lost his apartment because of that,” Newcomer said. “He’d just started receiving Social Security disability benefits.”

When he got his disability check, Worden would spend a couple of nights in a motel, according to Newcomer.

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 About one in five of the county’s homeless is considered seriously mentally ill, according to an annual survey of the homeless.

“It’s hard to drag people who are homeless to an appointment to have the doctor say they have a mental illness, and so they can’t get services,” Newcomer said. “They try to ignore it.”

Twelve of the 21 people who stayed at the Chambersburg drop-in shelter on Wednesday night had mental health issues, he said.

Newcomer said he was Worden’s emergency contact, but the two had never spoken about a living will because of Worden’s mental condition.

Worden survived a massive stroke in late December, but could not move the left side of his body, Newcomer said. He was sent for rehabilitation to Spring Creek Nursing Center in Harrisburg, but his condition worsened overnight. He was unresponsive at Harrisburg Hospital, and Newcomer followed the doctor’s recommendation not to resuscitate his friend.

“It was a tough decision,” Newcomer said.

Worden’s body was cremated on Thursday, Newcomer said. The drop-in shelter paid for the cremation and is accepting donations to cover the cost.

Newcomer said he plans to hold the ashes until the family decides what should be done. He found Worden’s sister and will abide by her decision.

Jim Hook,  717-262-4759