Mary Ann Henson Obituary (1920 - 2017)

Mary Ann Henson, 97, of Normal, passed away at her home surrounded by her family on Saturday, September 9, 2017. Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday, September 15, 2017 at Epiphany Catholic Church with Monsignor Eric S. Powell officiating. Private family interment will be in Camp Butler National Cemetery, Springfield. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, September 14, 2017 at Carmody-Flynn Funeral Home, Bloomington. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, 112 Boeykins Place, Normal, Illinois 61761 or to the Mary Ruth Herbers Snap Outreach Program of the Year/Feeding America, 35 East Wacker Drive, Suite 2000, Chicago, Illinois 60601. She was born June 30, 1920 in Portageville, New York to Ignatzio and Rosaria Vasile. Mary wed Gunnery Sergeant Charles Charlie Henson on December 13, 1955 at Camp Pendleton, California after traveling across the country by train with her sister and cousin. Three days after she was married, Mary returned to Portageville while Charlie fought in the Korean War. He returned in 1957 and they settled in California. Together, they had two children. After Charlie retired in 1967, they moved to Normal. Mary worked as an operator for General Telephone until her retirement in 1985. Left to honor her memory are her daughter, Faith (Joseph) Herbers; her son, Charlie Henson; six grandchildren, Tony Henson, Jonny (Caroline) Henson, Kaylie Henson, Dominic Henson, Cooper Bagby Henson and Ted (Andie Hoff) Herbers; a sister, Rose DeFranco and sister-in-law, Rose Vasile, both 99 years old; sisters-in-law, Margaret Yost and Patricia Handwerk; a brother-in-law, Hobart Henson; special nieces, Sandra Henson, Kathy Garner, Nancy Della Penta, Julianne Henson and Jeanette Collier; as well as many other nieces and nephews. Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Charlie; her parents; brothers, Joe (Shirley), Butch (Jenny), Sam (Lu), Tony and Leonard; brother-in-law, James DeFranco; niece, Rosemary Witktorski; and nephew, Hobie Henson.