Edgar Y.M. Henderson, Winter Garden, died August 19, 2015 at age 99. He was born in January 20, 1916 in Louisville, Kentucky and reared in Georgia, graduating from Quitman high School and Piedmont College, Demorest, Georgia. He was a member of the Piedmont College Athletic Hall of Fame, having played on the 1936 undefeated baseball time. Prior to WWII he entered the Naval service and was graduated from a school for line officers at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, receiving a commission as ensign, signed by Frank Knox, then Secretary of the Navy. When WWII began he was ordered to boarding duty off the New Jersey and Delaware coasts, boarding and inspecting ships of all nations standing in for Delaware Bay. In the Aleutian Islands campaign he commanded the minesweeper USS AGILE and in the Pacific Islands campaign he commanded the amphibious landing ship USS LST 594. Upon surrender of Japan, he was made task unit commander of 15 LST’s transporting Japanese army prisoners from Korea back to Japan with US Army Guard details aboard each ship. He was released from active duty in 1946, but remained in the Ready Reserve until 1967, when he was retired with the rank of Commander. Among other awards he received the Naval Reserve Medal and the Command-at-Sea Medal.
He settled in Winter Garden in 1946, where his wife, Ina, was a teacher at Winter Garden Elementary School. He worked at the Tavares and Gulf Railroad office until 1950, leaving that employment to become Winter Garden Postmaster, a commission received from President Harry Truman. At that time the post office was located in the store front at 111 W. Plant St. in the 2-story Black Bldg. During his tenure as postmaster the office experienced several “firsts”, attaining First Class status, opening the first branch office at Harlem Heights (later discontinued), and having the first building in Winter Garden to be designed and built specifically for post office use. Dedicated in 1953, this building continues in use as a Winter Garden Post Office, on the NW corner of Plant and Lakeview streets. Its construction by the City of Winter Garden on city property was approved by the voters in a special referendum in 1953.
He became a real estate broker in 1956 and continued in that business until 2001. His particular interest in that field was in locating and negotiating sites for churches, which he did for more than 20 churches, for several denominations.
He was a member of First Baptist Church, Winter Garden since 1947. He served eight years on the New Work Committee of the Greater Orlando Baptist Association, engaged in establishment of the new congregations and acquiring properties for church sites. In 1983 he was awarded the honorary Doctor of Humanities degree by his Alma Mater, Piedmont College Demorest, Georgia. He was a member of Military Officers Association of America and the Naval Institute, Annapolis, MD. He was a member of Hugh T. Gregory Post 63, American Legion, having served three terms as Post Commander.
He is survived by a brother, Charles B. Henderson, Winter Garden and by three nieces, four great nieces and a great nephew, five great-great nieces, and four great-great nephews, all in Oklahoma.
Funeral services will be held August 21, 2015 at 10:00 am at the First Baptist Church, Winter Garden. Interment will be in the Carlton City Cemetery, Carlton, Georgia where his wife is buried.
Arrangements under the direction of Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home, WINTER GARDEN, FL.
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