Remembering Past President John R. Haworth: 1927-2025
Seventy-five years ago this spring, John Richardson Haworth Sr. of High Point, by way of Guilford College and the U.S. Naval Reserve, graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law. For more than six decades thereafter, the legal profession in general and the North Carolina Bar Association in particular were forever enhanced by his presence and participation.
Haworth, who served as president of the North Carolina Bar Association and Foundation in 1979-80, died on April 26 at the age of 98. He was predeceased by his beloved wife of 69 years, Martha Wells Haworth, who died in 2020. Their inseparable presence added warmth and dignity to countless events and annual meetings through the years, with the absence of their smiling faces duly noted long before their passing.
“John was 98 years old when he passed,” stated fellow aviation enthusiast and NCBA Past President Gray Wilson, “but the legacy he left in that community is inspiring. He was truly a lawyer’s lawyer, and an enduring friend.”
John and Martha Haworth of Colfax shared a passion for dancing and flying single-engine planes. They both earned private licenses, instrument ratings, and commercial licenses, and enjoyed countless hours of dancing with the Debonair Dance Club of High Point.
Upon graduation from UNC School of Law, John Haworth was admitted to the North Carolina State Bar in August and was also admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina in 1950. He was later admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1962) and the U.S. Supreme Court (1963).
Haworth began his legal career in practice with his cousin, Byron Haworth, and later established his own firm, Haworth, Riggs, Kuhn, and Haworth. He retired after 66 years while serving of counsel with Morgan, Herring, Morgan, Green, and Rosenblutt, LLP. He was a member of Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity, the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers (now Advocates for Justice), the Lawyers-Pilots Bar Association, and the American Judicature Society, where he served as a director from 1980-82. He was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Life Member of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.
Haworth served on the NCBA Board of Governors from 1962-65, chaired the CLE Committee (1961-64) and Courts and Civil Litigation Committee (1975-79), and represented the NCBA in the ABA House of Delegates from 1982-86. He was inducted into the NCBA General Practice Hall of Fame in 1993, and the John R. Haworth Liberty Fund was established in his honor in 2011.
His term as president of the NCBA was marked by the authorization and activation of our first six sections, of which there are now 31. According to Haworth’s first president’s column from the Winter 1979 edition of Barnotes, the establishment of sections was approved by the membership in June at the 1979 Annual Meeting.
“The response was overwhelming,” Haworth wrote in announcing applications for membership in five sections “at press time” to join the Real Property, Bankruptcy, Taxation (now Tax), Probate and Fiduciary (now Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law) and Commercial, Banking and Business Law (now Business Law) sections.
All five original sections held organizational meetings during the fall and winter of his presidency, followed closely by the organizational meeting of the Family Law Section in the spring. The Labor Law Committee was also well on its way to establishing what is now known as the Labor & Employment Law Section.
John and Martha Haworth knew their way around the dance floor!
“Why have our members responded so enthusiastically to the organization of sections within our ranks?” Haworth asked. “As I have worked with these groups and attended their meetings, I have reached these conclusions:
- Most lawyers greatly enjoy association with fellow practitioners, in particular those engaged in like fields of practice.
- Many lawyers have a genuine desire to participate in activities of the organized bar which have a direct tendency to improve their abilities and the abilities of their colleagues.
- Valuable associations are formed and recognition of abilities is gained.
- Sections provide greatly increased opportunities for individuals to engage in meaningful programs and projects within their respective spheres of interest.
“Despite the time-consuming nature of the president’s job,” Haworth concluded, “the first four months which I have been in this office have been rewarding and exciting. The work of the committee chairmen and members, who have done outstanding jobs in organizing their committees into sections, has been inspirational.”
Institutions of higher learning, community and church also benefitted from the lasting legacy of John Haworth’s commitment to service.
As a proud member of the Class of 1947, Haworth served as president and director of the Guilford College Alumni Association and Quaker Club, and as a member of the Board of Visitors. He was a member of the Guilford College Athletic Hall of Fame, received the Alumni Excellence Award in 1982, and was a member of the Francis T. King Society. He also served as president of the UNC Law Alumni Association.
Within the community, Haworth served on the High Point City Council (1953–59), as director of the High Point Chamber of Commerce (1961–63), as president of the High Point Historical Society (1986–87), and as president of the High Point Kiwanis Club (1990). He was honored through Kiwanis as a recipient of the Hixson Fellow Award for Service (1995) and made a Lifetime Member of both the local and international Kiwanis organizations. He was also a 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Oasis Shrine.
Haworth was an active member of Springfield Friends Meeting, where he served as presiding clerk, trustee, Ministry and Counsel member, and Sunday school teacher.
John R. Haworth Sr. is survived by his children: John Haworth Jr. (Will Barrus) of High Point, Dr. Charles Haworth (Christel) of Fayetteville, and Catherine Matthews (Steven) of Burlington; his grandchildren, Nathaniel Matthews (Caroline), Nicholas Matthews (Madison), Connor Haworth, Christian Haworth, and Curran Haworth; his great-granddaughter, McKinley Matthews; his brothers, William Haworth (Shirley) and Dr. Chester Haworth (Brenda); his sister, Margaret Young; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, and great-great-nieces. In addition to his wife Martha, Haworth was predeceased by his sister and two brothers-in-law, Dr. Eldora Terrell (Gene) and Rawley Young.
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.