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James A. Henson Harbor Is, SC QCWA # 11190 Chapter 89 |
Jim Henson died Saturday, October 15, 2022, at his home in the Reflections neighborhood in Columbia, surrounded by his loved ones. Memorial gathering and reception will be held from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Friday, November 11, 2022, at the clubhouse at Reflections at 2 Stoney Creek Road, Columbia. All are welcome.
Born in Hartsville, SC, in 1932, Jim was the son of the late Elvin Govan Henson and Fannie Gertrude Goodale. He attended grade school and high school in Hartsville. He played cornet in the Hartsville High School marching band, where he met his future wife, Jane Hope Hunt, who was the mother of his two sons. Like Jane, Jim had a deep appreciation of music throughout his life. In addition to cornet, he was an accomplished guitarist. He was also an avid amateur radio operator, W4UFP, and computer and technology enthusiast who passed his love of technology on to his sons.
After marrying Jane in 1954, Jim studied engineering at the University of South Carolina and then worked as a lighting engineer, eventually running his own firm in Columbia for many years. In his free time, he loved boating, fishing, golfing, writing, amateur radio, computers, and coordinating the annual family reunion. Jim and Jane were avid bridge players and the life of every party: old Polaroids suggest a very glamorous lifestyle. Jim always seemed to know a new joke and could make anyone laugh. His love of words and storytelling could be seen in the poems he published on Facebook as well as the blog he kept for many years.
Jim's heart was in the coastal low country of South Carolina. He had residences on Hilton Head and Seabrook Island in the 1960s through the 1980s. In the late 1990s, he moved to Beaufort and lived on Harbor Island for eight years. He was active in the Harbor Island homeowner's association and architecture review board. He was everyone's friend, grew bananas and grapefruit in his yard, and hosted hundreds of nesting birds in the lagoon behind his house. When his eyesight began to decline, he moved back to Columbia in 2008 to be closer to medical specialists. He remained actively engaged with ham radio, computers, and playing word games (on boards and online) until the final months of his life.
After 2008, Jim looked forward to spending a week during Memorial Day and Thanksgiving with his sons, daughter-in-law, and other family at the beach on Fripp, Edisto, or Hilton Head, "porch sittin'," telling stories, appreciating birds and nature, playing dominoes or poker, and grilling local flounder and shrimp. His warm and kind demeanor, his unending wit and humor, his appreciation of the natural world, and his love for family and friends will be sorely missed by all.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Friends of Hunting Island State Park https://www.friendsofhuntingisland.org/memorials or to the Hospice and Palliative Care Foundation, PO Box 151, Drayton, SC 29222. Or treat yourself to a ballgame or an ice cream and think of Jim.
Published by The State on Nov. 3, 2022.