Mary Frances Henderson

On March 24, 2018, Mary Frances Henderson, also known as Peanut, passed away peacefully. Mary Frances was preceded in death by her father, Robert E. Cunningham, mother, Mary Smith Cunningham and husband, J.B. Henderson.

On March 19, 1926, Mary Frances Cunningham Henderson was born in El Paso, Texas. She has lived her entire life in Kern Place on the same block as her childhood home and across the street from Madeline Park. She attended Dudley Elementary and then Radford School for Girls. In 1949, Mary Frances had the honor of being a Sun Princess in the Sun Carnival.

Since her father, Robert E. Cunningham, a prominent El Paso lawyer and judge, from Alabama, had attended the University of Alabama, Mary Frances also attended the University of Alabama, majoring in Speech Therapy. There, she met J.B. Henderson and after they graduated, married in El Paso on June 25, 1949. Soon after, Mary Frances and J.B. returned to Birmingham, where J.B. went to dental school on the G.I. Bill, graduating in 1953.

While in dental school, Mary Frances and J.B. had two children, Robert and Francie. Robert E. Henderson, who is also a dentist, was born on October 15, 1950. He is now married to Jeanne Lively Henderson and lives here, in El Paso. They have two children, Kirsten and Scott. Kirsten lives in Italy with her husband, Lt. Anthony (TJ) Duncan USN, and their three girls, Savanna, Tatum, and Genessee. Scott is living in Denver and having too much fun to get married.

Mary Frances (Francie) Henderson was born on March 30, 1953. Francie and her husband, John Cole, live in Port Aransas, Texas. They also have two children, Marie and Seth. Marie, a BSN RN, and her husband, Chris St. Clair, live in Lubbock with their two children, Liam and Harrison. Seth is an Army Captain now stationed in Columbia, South Carolina.

In 1976, Mary Frances and J.B. built a home in the “Black Forrest” area of Ruidoso. It had a view of “Baldy” that was simply breathtaking with snow on top. In 30 years, it was rare that Mary Frances and J.B. missed spending a weekend there. Robert and Jeanne and their kids were avid skiers and with Robert and Jeanne on the Ski Patrol, having a home in town was a warm welcome.

Throughout the years, Mary Frances and J.B. traveled extensively. Several times to Europe, the Scandinavian countries, cruising the Rhine River, to Hawaii, Egypt, The Holy lands and Africa. J.B.’s favorite memory was when Mary Frances was nearly thrown off a camel in Jerusalem. J.B. died on October 20, 2011, but in 2015, by herself, Mary Frances’ las excursion, was a cruise to Alaska, at 89 years old.

Many thanks to the staff at Sun Ridge at Desert Springs for their patient attentiveness to Mary Frances over the last two years. Our gratitude to Hospice of El Paso for their great care and compassion while attending to Mary Frances during her last months and especially all of the staff at Center for Compassionate Care at Monte Vista who helped Mary Frances during her last week.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Church of St. Clement, St. Clement’s Parish School or St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.