Obituary of Joe Duke Henderson

 

Joe Duke Henderson died on July 2, 2017, at the age of 95.  He was born in Ripley County, Mo., on May 8, 1922, to Bennett Duke and Ollie Jane Robinson Henderson, the youngest of six children and the apple of his mother's eye.  After graduating from Doniphan High School, where he was a well-liked basketball player (the inscription below his senior picture in the high school annual read, "All the girls seem to like Joe, and he doesn't seem to mind.")  he taught for a time in a one-room school. 

Joe married Buretta "Lorene" Mitchener on February 8, 1944, soon after enlisting in the U. S. Army Air Corps during World War II.  He served as a B-17 navigator-bombadier and was awarded a Purple Heart.  Following his military service, he worked in a family-owned shoe store in Doniphan.  In 1952 he, Lorene and their first two daughters moved to West Plains where Joe and his brother, Wafe, opened a John Deere dealership.  Following the birth of two more daughters and sale of the farm implement dealership, Joe worked in insurance, real estate and sign painting.  Although somewhat disappointed at the lack of athleticism in all of his daughters (he tried, unsuccessfully, to teach tennis and golf to each one).  He faithfully attended every orchestra, choir, or band concert in which any one of them performed.  He was an avid reader throughout his life, loved playing tennis and, in later years, enjoyed attending dances and playing pool at the Senior Center..

His four daughters  along with their spouses survive him.  They are Sandra Joplin and her husband, Ken, Virginia "Ginny" Henderson, Amber Trautman and husband Bob, all of West Plains, and Jane Henderson and her husband John Holroyd, Portland, Ore.  Surviving grandchildren and their families are:  B J and his wife Missi, and their children, Springfield; Chris Joplin, New Orleans; Sam Joplin, New Orleans; Clay Trautman, his wife Shanda, and their children, Nixa; and Cara Trautman, West Plains.

A graveside military service will be held at Doniphan Cemetery on Friday, Sept. 1, 2017.  Interment by Edwards Funeral Home of Doniphan will occur at an earlier date.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the West Plains Community Garden (c/o Howell County Health Department, 180 Kentucky Avenue) where he spent many hours with Ginny during the last years of his life.