Walter "Walt" Henderson
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 5A Obituary - March 11, 2021
Walter “Walt”
Henderson
November 4, 1939 - March 6, 2021
Walter “Walt” Henderson
passed away at his home with
his wife, Janice, and a friend
from church, Sharon Gross, by
his side. He was 81 years old.
Walt was born to Lonnie
“Bill” and Laura Henderson
in Grapevine, Texas. His
parents; brother, James, and
sister, Darlene, preceded him in death. His oldest sister, Dorthy
McCarthy, Waurika, OK, and Veryl Henderson, Aurora, CO,
survive him. He is also survived by wife, Janice; daughters, Pamela
(Chris) Payton, Albuquerque, NM, and Sherry (Aron) Schatz, of
Atlanta, GA; grandchildren, Tyson Payton, and Derek Payton,
Albuquerque, NM; Megan (Brandon) Sykes, Berthoud, CO: Izaac
(Megan) Schatz, Jack (great-grandson), Canton, GA, and Noah and
Tyler Schatz, Atlanta, GA.
When Walter was three years old his family moved to Grand
Junction, CO, where he lived for the rest of his life except when he
was stationed in Albuquerque, NM, for four years. He graduated
from Central High School in 1957. He attended Mesa Junior
College for one year, but his love of working on diesel engines
became his livelihood until he was drafted and chose the Air Force.
While he was stationed in Albuquerque he met his future wife,
Janice Chandler, at a Baptist Church. Six weeks later they became
engaged and married the following year on July 4, 1964.
Walt was discharged from the Air Force, January, 1966, then
returned to Grand Junction to work at Schooley Diesel Co. In 1971
he started working at Cummins Rocky Mt. in Grand Junction. He
retired in 2005 having worked for Cummins Rocky MT for 34
years. During those years he became a shop foreman and moved
into Territory Manager of the big Cummins engines. He worked
closely with Poma Ski selling diesel engines as back up for the ski
lifts. He would oversee the installations of the engines and at times
was flown to Canada and Reno to help with the installations. He
had the unique ability to listen to an engine and know what was
wrong with it.
He became a Christian in his youth which influenced his entire
life. He was an ordained deacon, always active in church. He
was a great family man and loved his wife, daughters, and later,
grandchildren immensely. He enjoyed woodworking, gardening,
and deer and elk hunting. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in
his early sixties, which did not become a problem until his late
seventies.
We give thanks for his life and will miss him forever. He had a
wonderful sense of humor and loved to joke at times.
Everyone is welcome to come to his memorial service this Friday
at 2:00, at Redlands Community Church. A private burial will take
place in Memorial Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, donations to HopeWest, of Grand Junction or
Redlands Community Church, 2327 Broadway, Grand Junction,
CO.
Callahan-Edfast have taken care of him
