By Fran Spielman
Chicago Sun Times
CHICAGO — Ever since their police officer son was gunned down in front of their Chatham home by thugs trying to steal his motorcycle, Thomas and Carolyn Wortham have been besieged by Chicagoans who want to know what they can do, how they can help.
After listening to Wednesday’s moving City Council tribute to their son, Carolyn Wortham offered some advice that goes beyond making donations to a foundation in the name of 30-year-old Thomas Wortham IV.
“Reach out and help one child. Reach out and help somebody who needs it. Smile at someone, offer them your hand. That doesn’t cost a penny. That’s what we would like for you to do to just advance what Tommy was doing and to remember his name,” she said.
Thomas Wortham III - who came to his son’s aid May 19 and killed one of the suspects - stressed that the work goes on.
“People have been asking us what we’re going to do. We have not yet formulated what we’re going to do in his name. But we will continue his work. We will continue doing things that he would have done if he had lived,” the father said.
Thomas Wortham IV survived two tours of duty in Iraq, only to be gunned down in front of the boyhood home built by his grandfather after having dinner with his parents. The home is located across from Cole Park, a park the officer had worked to make safe for local kids.
On Wednesday, Chicago aldermen decried the “upside-down” decline in values that made a polite, dedicated and driven young man the “exception,” instead of the rule.
“The popular culture says, ‘Don’t go to school. Hang on the corner. Be a thug. Go for the bling ... If it’s all about the bling, then I can take your stuff,’” said Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th), a Wortham family friend whose ward includes Chatham.
Her voice breaking with emotion, Lyle said, “Our memorial to Tommy, who I truly loved as if he were my own, is to turn it around. So, I say to the young men who happen to be here from Simeon [High School], you’re Tom Wortham’s legacy ... It’s up to you to show this country that believes there’s no value in a black man’s life ... to make ‘em a liar.”
Council Police Committee Chairman Anthony Beale (9th) repeated the comments made by Wortham’s mother at the officer’s funeral.
“We still have work to do ... We have got to come from behind the curtain and get involved in our communities. That’s the only way we’re gonna make a difference,” Beale said.
Mayor Daley challenged all Chicagoans to “do something special tonight, tomorrow, the next night, the weekend” in Wortham’s name.
The mayor pointed to the Simeon football team attending the meeting to be honored in an unrelated resolution.
“There’s a Tommy out there,” Daley told the Worthams. “There are Tommys out there. These young men have different names, but the same courage and the same beliefs, I hope, that your child had.”
Copyright 2010 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.