A street in Chester was renamed Sunday after The Rev. Margaret L Wortham, a pioneer and a woman of generosity who helped the city, writes Kathleen E. Carey for the Daily Times.

“This is what we want: to never forget her legacy,” the Rev. Catherine Jacobs said of her mother. “She had a heart for the people. She just gave and gave and gave and gave.”

Part of Fulton Street between Route 291 and Third Street was named in her honor with a city council proclamation declaring the street “Margaret Wortham Way”

Wortham came to Chester in 1944 and was one of the first graduates of the Nappa School, a practical nursing school open to Black women at Chester Hospital.

She founded the Faith Tabernacle Church in 1953. 

Wortham is mostly remembered in the community for her acts of kindness.

Families were adopted and gifts handed. The church paid for people’s utilities and gave furniture to those in need.

She opened a soup kitchen in 1984, serving about 1,200 meals a month.

“Our house was like the way station,” Jacobs chuckled. “She was always taking someone in.”

Wortham died In 2008 at age 88.  

Read more about Rev. Margaret L Wortham in the Daily Times.