Jim Henderson's Tribute To His Wife

Sue Shannon Roark Henderson
Born: May 22, 1943 in Shreveport, Louisiana

Died: August 10, 2016 in Gainesville, FL

Married to: James D. Henderson, Sept. 4, 1964 in Shreveport

Children: Christopher David Henderson

                Gregory Shannon Henderson

Grandchildren: Christopher James Henderson

                         Conner Liam Henderson

Education: Fair Park High School 1961 graduate

                  Louisiana Tech University 1965 BS degree

                  University of Tennessee    1969 MS degree

                  Florida International University 1980 MS degree

Work experience: Classroom teacher in Davidson County Tennessee (Nashville) 5 years

                             Classroom teacher in Dade County Florida (Miami) 30 years

Sue was preceded in death by son Christopher D. Henderson on Nov. 25, 2010.

She is survived by her husband of 53 years, Dr. James D. Henderson, age 78, her son Dr. Gregory Shannon Henderson, age 41 and two grandsons, Christopher James, age 2 and Connor Liam, age 6 weeks.

Sue is the love of my life and was my beautiful, sassy Irish lassie for almost 60 years. I miss her terribly and will until I die. My family wholeheartedly accepted her and she became another daughter and sister almost immediately which was very important to Sue.

My darling suffered from undiagnosed ALS for 18 months until she was hospitalized on July 4th. She spent her last 20 days in a Hospice facility which she despised. She was unafraid of death and looking forward to reuniting with our son Chris and her mother who had died when Sue was six.

I am not up on obituary protocol but I hope this will allow you to write something appropriate. I do not think that you two ever met but she thought you were a wonderful classmate for your work with the Fair Park website and also deserving of a special place in Heaven. I totally agree with her opinion and she and I will be there to greet you when your time comes.

Jim