Obituary of Minnie Henderson

Sue was born and raised in rural Missouri. As a teenager she moved west with her parents and siblings as part of the dust Bowl migration to California. They arrived in the Fresno area and worked in the fields. In Fresno she met the love of her life, Jack Henderson. They married on February 28th 1947. They soon had 3 sons and a daughter. Jack drove a taxicab and attended Fresno State on the GI bill after his service in WWII, and Sue took care of the young family. The family moved to Oakland for Jack's residency in the medical field, but soon moved to Santa Cruz where Jack was offered a position to run the medical lab for the fledgling Santa Cruz Medical Clinic. They briefly lived out in the farm country of 41st Avenue, and then downtown Santa Cruz, before building a home on the lower West side near Lighthouse Field. They raised their young family on the West side and their home was always a favorite gathering place for friends and family. Sunday barbecues, holiday and birthday dinners were always at Pop and Grandma's house until recent years. Sue loved kids and she took care and spent lots of time with her grandchildren. Sue and Jack enjoyed attending all of their grandchildren's numerous sporting events over many years. Sue was very energetic and full of life, walking West Cliff Drive almost every day until the last couple of months. She was especially close to her daughter and best friend, Sandi who took great care of her in the last few years. Sue was preceded in death by her husband Jack in 2013, her mother and father as well as her siblings Mary, Frank, Glen, Opal and Willard, and her grandson, Kyle. She is survived by her son Dennis Henderson, Robert Henderson (Marybeth), Daryl Henderson (Marlene) and Sandi Kluzniak (Wiktor), as well as grandchildren, Robert Henderson (Terry), Angela Scalph (Scott), Brandon Kluzniak, Marissa Velasquez (Rodrigo), Kaitilyn Kluzniak, Megan Henderson and Molly Henderson and great grandchildren, Robert Jr., Ashleigh, Jack, Luke and Bella. A Celebration of Life will be held at Oakwood Memorial Chapel, 3301 Paul Sweet Road, Santa Cruz, CA on Saturday, March 12th at 3:00pm. Special thanks to Dignity Health Palliative care and Hospice of Santa Cruz County. In lieu of flowers, donations to Hospice are preferred.