Maria do Espirito Santo Henson

Maria do Espirito Santo Azevedo Henson, 89, of Orange, CA, passed away on Saturday, October 09, 2021. She was born on May 13, 1932 in Fajã dos Vimes Isle São Jorge, Azores, Portugal, a very small place next to the ocean, situated adjacent to a large mountain. Her village had a population of 900. Everyone knew each other and were like one big family. She was raised by her Mother, whom she called Mãe and her Grandpa, whom she called Avózinho. After her mother died, she lived with her Uncle, who was also her Godfather, and his family. She was very close to her first cousins, who were like her brothers and sisters

Maria attended a Boarding School called Colégio de São Francisco Xavier, which was run by nuns from France, England, and Portugal. During her 8 years there, she learned French and English. She would go home each June and go back to school each September by ship. After graduation, she went to Licéu Nacional da ilha Terceira, where she studied for 3 years and received certification to become a children's instructor.

Maria met her husband, Robert, in the City of Angra do Hiroshimo on the Island of Terceira in Portugal, where he was stationed at the Lajes Air Force Base, after a family friend who was renting a room in her house invited him to dinner. For the two of them, it was love at first sight. About a year later, on Monday, July 27th, 1959, when she was 27 years old, she married Robert Lewis Henson in a civil court ceremony and on Sunday, August 09, 1959, they married again in a Catholic Church ceremony in the town of Raminho.

In 1960, Maria and Robert’s oldest son, Robert Jr., was born in the Azores and they all lived together just outside the base for 3 months until they traveled to the United States by way of the Air Force Base in McGuire, New Jersey, where Robert was Honorably Discharged from the service. They lived in Orange County from 1961 until 2004 when they moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. They greatly enjoyed living there for 12 years, then returned to Orange County in 2016 to live closer to their family.

Maria’s first career was in education. Then she worked in retail at K-Mart for many years and retired from there. She was involved in many organizations. She was a member of the West End Neighborhood Association, a member of the Community Oriented Policing, and part of the Leadership at the Southwest Seniors Club in Santa Ana. She was actively involved in the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, the Room Mother Chairman at Immaculate Heart of Mary School and a Eucharistic Minister at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church both in Santa Ana. She served the church in a leadership capacity scheduling the ministers and religious activities. She was also a Eucharistic Minister at Prince of Peace Church in Las Vegas. She was a member and a leader in the Knights Columbus Ladies Auxiliary in Santa Ana and in Las Vegas, where she served as President. She was instrumental in starting a Food Bank at Prince of Peace Church and was a part of the Prince of Peace Seniors Club in Las Vegas. Before the pandemic, she and Robert were active at the Orange Senior Center, where they met and made new friends and enjoyed the activities there, especially bingo and trips to the casinos with Veterans of Foreign War (VFW). She received much acclaim for her volunteer work in both Santa Ana and Las Vegas.

Maria enjoyed trips to Las Vegas with Casa Tours and enjoyed playing the slot machines in Casinos in California and in Nevada. She enjoyed watching variety shows live in Las Vegas and on TV. She enjoyed travelling locally and internationally and was able to visit her beloved Portugal three times. She enjoyed visiting her relatives in Turlock and Hillmar and abroad and kept in touch with them and her friends on a regular basis. She loved getting phone calls from family and friends, but never wanted to stay on the phone too long. She enjoyed dressing up and looking good. She always kept a clean house. She loved to dance, especially with her husband. She had a wonderful sense of humor. She loved to joke around and make people laugh. She enjoyed cooking, baking Portuguese sweet bread, and feeding people. She enjoyed eating a good meal and loved seafood, especially mussels, shrimp, and lobster. At home, she enjoyed watching game shows like Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, The Price is Right, and Family Feud, as well as her soaps, The Young & the Restless and the Bold & the Beautiful, and some reality TV shows. She loved playing lotto scratchers, solitaire on her phone, and tending her garden.

Her Catholic faith was the foundation that she built her life upon. She was very religious and prayed the rosary every day. When the pandemic kept her from attending church, she learned to watch it via livestream. After God, her friends and family were the most important things to her. However, she had no love greater than her love for her husband, Robert. After 63 years of marriage their love for each other was their greatest strength and happiness. Theirs is a love story for the ages that cannot be diminished by time, space or death.

Maria is survived by her beloved husband Robert Lewis Henson, Sr.; her children Robert Lewis, Jr. and his wife Michele, Anthony Louis and his wife April, Maria Luisa and her partner Chris, and Beatrice de Lourdes; her grandchildren Robert Lewis III and his wife Lia, Nicholas Skylar, Marissa Marie and her husband Johnny, Rachel Luisa, Anthony David, Brooke Lynn-Marie, Klaire Turner, Adam Louis, Andrew James, and Joseph Azevedo; her great-grandchildren Maverick Bohdi, Robert Lewis IV, and Asher Michael; and many, many cousins. She is predeceased by her parents Maria de Lourdes Borba-Azevedo and Moyses Azevedo.

Mass will be held for her on Monday, November 15, 2021 at 10:00am at Holy Family Catholic Church, 566 S Glassell St, Orange, CA 92866.

To virtually attend the funeral mass you may visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNI0CPRhtVE

The Memorial Service and Reception will follow from 11:30am-1:30pm at Fairhaven Memorial Park & Mortuary, 1702 Fairhaven Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92705.

To virtually attend Maria do Espirito Santo Henson's service go to https://oneroomstreaming.com and select the "family and friends" tab. This will take you the family and friends page where you will click the button titled "watch now". This will open a log in window, and prompt you to input an event id and password. The event id is Fairhavenfh and the event password is V8C7ZU

The Funeral Service will be held on Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 10:30am at the Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd, Riverside, CA 92518.

Kindly RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8cYrP7TbHftYdXRG0xcKtYwgCvY3E_sXRY4gPlxMOIv-nwQ/viewform?usp=sf_link