Louis Lee Henson Jr.

Louis Lee Henson Jr. was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma to Louis Lee Henson Sr. and Mary Sarah (Goben) on March 24, 1947.  He was preceded in death by both of his parents and four siblings (Robert Zuber, Jean Zuber, Sharon Ringquist, and John Michael Henson (Vietnam). 

Louis, or Lee, as he preferred to be called, was married to Carolyn (Hinton) July 12, 1968.  He has one child, Commander John Michael Henson (Nui), United States Navy and two beloved grandchildren, Lucas and Alexander. 

He was proud to be a Veteran who served in the Army 53rd Battalion, Company D Transportation.  He was a member of American Legion Post #45

Lee worked for Kaiser Aluminum for 25 years in Washington.  After retirement he moved to La Pine, Oregon, where he had purchased property as a young man. 

He was an avid, eccentric collector and had as many as 250 rifles and 50 handguns at one time.  He passionately enjoyed hiking, hunting and fishing.  He was a licensed Ham Radio Operator who communicated with dozens of people from all over the world and assisted non-profit organizations such as Greenpeace with their communications while they were at sea. He was also an expert mechanic and welder and always had numerous “to do” projects. After he retired from Kaiser, he owned two commercial fishing boats and fished along the coast of California all the way up to the Northern most tip of the United States—a harbor called La Push, Washington.  He also owned Henson Trucking Company.   

Although he was not formally educated, he was extremely bright and loved watching the History and Discovery Channels—always remembering and enjoying discussing with others what he learned. 

He was close to his family and valued his true friendships.  To those who knew and loved him, Lee was quiet, stubborn, determined, hard-working, eccentric, and funny.  He was also known to have a heart of pure gold and had a history of taking people into his home and helping them back on their feet. Numerous childhood friends of John’s stayed in contact with Lee over the years and relied on him for advice, even as adults.

Lee is survived by his son, John and grandchildren (Lucas and Alexander), five sisters (Patty Wills (Don), Janis Scott, Cathy Henson, Vicki Perry (Gary), Georgia Henson), numerous nieces and nephews and his beloved Pug, Joey.

His smile and quirky sense of humor will be missed by family and friends who knew and loved him.  He died peacefully after a lengthy illness on October 20, 2018 in El Dorado Hills, California surrounded by his loving family and his devoted dog, Joey.