James McWhorter, age 87, of Woonsocket, passed away on Thursday, May 22, 2025 at Prairie View Care Center in Woonsocket.

A service to celebrate Jim and Penny McWhorter's lives will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at Welter Funeral Home with burial to follow at Riverside Cemetery in Huron. Visitation, with their family present, will be from 5-7 p.m., on Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at Welter Funeral Home; or one hour prior to the service at the funeral home on Wednesday morning. A celebration of their lives will be held on May 28 at Welter Funeral Home. Friends and fellow travelers are invited to bring stories, music, and memories to share as we honor two beautiful souls who lived by the beat of the midway and left behind a legacy of love, freedom, and joy.

In Loving Memory of James and Penny McWhorter

Devoted Partners in Life, Love, and the Carnival

It is with heavy hearts and deep gratitude for their extraordinary lives that we announce the passing of James and Penny McWhorter, beloved husband and wife, who departed this world separately, but now are forever together. They shared over 60 years together—— side by side, with love, freedom, and the open road before them.

James, 87, and Penny, 79, were lifelong carnival folk, devoted to the carnival life — living, working, and dreaming on the Midway of America's traveling shows. They were wanderers with purpose, bringing smiles to families, and shared stories and laughter that were stitched into every dusty fairground they touched.

James was a man of quiet strength, steady hands, and smiling eyes— a rigger, a mechanic, a protector of his people. He could set up a Ferris wheel in the rain with a wrench in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and still be the first to help a newcomer feel like family.

Penny was light in motion — a ringleader, a cook,  a mother to all who needed one. Her laugh could turn heads from across the lot, and her trailer and the scent of cotton candy, was a place of comfort, and wisdom.

Together, they made a life not bound by walls, but by skies, stars, and seasons. Their love was fierce and free — the kind of love that doesn't need to be explained, only witnessed.

They are survived by their children Pete (Kathy), Jimae (Milt), Lon (Tammy), and Dawn (Eric), their many grandchildren and great grandchildren and an extended family of anyone who ever walked across their mat and became a part of their lives.

James and Penny McWhorter — may your wagon always find the sunrise, may your Ferris wheel always be lit and true;

This time…we tip our hats to you...

See ya Later to the Greatest Showman and his Lovely Bride…

Keep it between the Ditches, and Sunny side up.