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The Class of 59 extends its condolences and prayers to the family and friends of Charles Henson upon his passing.
Below is an obituary.
Charles William Henson, 82, went home to be with the Lord on Thursday, July 21, after a long battle with leukemia. Known to friends and family as Chuck, he was born in Huntsville, Alabama in 1939. Chuck was a patient and hardworking man who loved the Lord all his life. He was very proud to have served his country in the Army, but his true calling was fulfilled as a missionary pilot for almost 30 years in Bolivia, Columbia, Arizona, and Papua New Guinea. After retiring from active missionary service in 2004, Chuck has continued to serve his family, his church, and his community in any way he could.
Chuck is preceded in death by his parents, Osceola and Bessie Irene Henson, and his younger sister, JoAnne Johnson.
He is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Sandra Lee Allen Henson; and his children: Allen Henson, Michael Henson, Stacey Henson, and Anna Henson Darlington; as well as 10 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.
Funeral service for Chuck will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Friday, July 29, at 11:00am. Interment will be held at 1:00pm at the Mountain Home Veterans Cemetery in Mountain Home, TN.
The family requests that remembrances be made in the form of donations to Compassion International at compassion.com.
Memories and condolences may be shared at tetrickfuneralhome.com, Tetrick Funeral Services, 3001 Peoples Street, Johnson City, Tennessee 37604 (423-610-7171). Tetrick Funeral Services is honored to serve the Henson family.
https://www.johnsoncitypress.com/obituary/charles-william-henson/article_7921895a-0a88-11ed-ac5e-db2108c80
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Bob Thomas
Link correction
https://www.johnsoncitypress.com/obituary/charles-william-henson/article_7921895a-0a88-11ed-ac5e-db2108c807ea.html
Richard Allen
The first time I meet Charles Henson I did not like him much, in fact I did not like him at all. In 10th grade I "tried out" for footbal, and all through August and September I worked and sweated with Coach Smith's "B" team trying to be another Hugh Ogle-- fat chance. In late September we finally had a game scheduled, but the day before the game, 8 or 10 guys who had been practicing with the "A" team were sent down to practice with us, and they were mostly the ones who played our game. Among them was a hard as nails, tough West Decatur kid named Chuck Henson, and that is the first time I ever saw him. Although he and his cohort did not keep me from playing (I was not good enough to play even with the real "B" team) I was resentful. I finished the season on the practice squad but only got to play one snap in the last game--and a "Rudy" I was not. In addition to playing guard and halfback on the football team Charles ran a 52-second 440 for the track team.
In the 11th grade I was hired as a stock boy for V.J. Elmore's and my boss was the senior stock boy, Steve Stovall. Steve was a good Baptist, present every time the church doors were open and then some. I was at home one night shortly after starting to work when I was visited by Steve's Sunday School class including John Tucker, Guy French, Noah Shrigly, Steve, and oh yes, the outlaw Chuck Henson, who as I was to learn, was a more dedicated Christian than the rest of those guys put together, and they were all very dedicated. They intimidated me so much I had to join the class.
Making a long story shorter, by the time we were Seniors, Charles and I had become the best of friends. Charles did not smoke, drink,or use profanity, but he did have an eye for the ladies, until he was married of course. We would meet every school morning and participate in the ritual hall walk, during which time kids would walk the halls talking and looking each other over until the homeroom bell rang. Almost every night, after church on Sunday's and Wednsday's of course, that year we would put 50 cents worth of gas in his mother's '51 Chevy and cruise the strip from the Rainbow Drive-in, to the skateing rink, to boat harbor, then repeat, "looking for girls" that we never found, although Charles came close a few times. Often we would stop for a coke at the "31" cafe operated by Cecilia Smithe's father.
Charles was not a serious student. While many of us were hoping to graduate and go on to college, Charles was hoping to graduate and get on with his life. We enjoyed the long Summer after graduation, but when the rest of the Sunday School class went off to college, Charles went off to the Army. His Army experience proved that Charles was bright enough to do any thing he chose to do--after basic training he became a Nuclear Weapons Technician and still later a computer expert in that newly developing field. Charles met the love of life, Sandra, while serving in Germany, in church of course.
After leaving the Army he had a promising future in computers when he felt the call to become a missionary, and not just a missionary but a "bush pilot" missionary. After he learned to fly, he and his family lived in austere conditions for 30 years while he answered his call, flying single and two-engin airplanes in South America and Paupa New Guinea in and out of runways cut out of jungles or on mountain tops where the runways were so short that one mistake would have been fatal. On one occasion he had to fly a plane across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to Paupa New Guinea, solo.
In his last years Charles' health declined, in large part caused by his work around nuclear weapons in the Army, but Charles never blamed anyone or lost his faith, which grew even stronger even as his body grew weaker. The last time Steve and I visited him, Charles said he knew he would soon go to sleep and wake up with his Lord and he was ready.
The Class of "59 never had, or lost, a better man. RFA
Douglas Ann Thrasher (Livingston . )
CHARLES AND I WERE CLASSMATES IN HIGH SCHOOL BUT NEVER REALLY KNEW EACH OTHER. I KNOW THAT HE WAS A GOOD, KIND GUY AND WAS FRIENDLY TO EVERYONE. I AM SO SORRY FOR HIS LOSS AND PRAY FOR HIS FAMILY TO FEEL THE PEACE OF OUR LORD GIVE THEM COMFORT
DOUGLAS ANN THRASHER LIVINGSTON
Bob Thomas
Richard Allen
Bob's comment #4 was an event described by Charles Henson and printed in his funeral program on Friday. July 29. He was a true beliver. RFA