Patricia Haithcock Henderson

Patricia was born on June 4, 1934 in Greensboro, the daughter of Lacy Haithcock, Sr., and Mary Shepherd Haithcock. She grew up in the White Oak district of Greensboro, the youngest of five brothers and sisters. She married Aubrey Henderson on June 30, 1954. Together, they brought up two daughters who they loved dearly, Melissa and Michele.

A committed born-again Christian, Patricia was a longtime member of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church, where she and her husband Aubrey served in areas including providing prayer and refreshments for people in hospital waiting rooms throughout Greensboro, visitation, care, and encouragement for homebound elderly people, and other hospitality ministries. For many years, Patricia also served at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church as the director of the church nursery programs, giving love and care to newborns, infants, and their families.

Patricia worked in a number of different fields, from selling furniture as a teenager, to doing clerical work in Greensboro banks in her twenties and thirties, to driving a school bus as a young mother. She spent much of her working life as an employee of the Guilford County Public Schools, serving both in food services and as an elementary school teacher assistant. She retired from the school system in 1996.

Always looking for opportunities to make people around her feel valuable and appreciated, Patricia enjoyed baking and delivering cakes, pies, and other desserts to local doctors’ offices, fire stations, church events, and others who needed love and attention. She created and sent hundreds of homemade cards to encourage her friends, family, and even people she did not know.

Known for her outgoing personality and personal energy, Patricia not only survived but thrived in battles with breast cancer and heart disease, as well as other medical challenges. She met each obstacle with faith in God and cheerful optimism. Her family will always remember her gentle smile, her joy in the kitchen, her devotion to her husband, her adoration for her daughters, son-in-law, and grandson, and, most of all, her deep love for Jesus Christ.

In addition to her parents, Patricia was preceded in death by her brothers, Jack Haithcock and Lacy Haithcock, Jr., and sisters, Betty Butler and Mary Elizabeth Cowen. Survivors include her husband of nearly 67 years, Aubrey Henderson, daughter Melissa Henderson, daughter Michele Rummage and husband Stephen, and grandson Joshua Rummage and wife Morgan.

A Celebration of Life Service for Patricia Henderson will be held at Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, on Wednesday, April 21, 2021, at 1:00 PM, officiated by her son-in-law Dr. Stephen Rummage, and her pastor Dr. Daniel Dickard. A graveside service at Forest Lawn Cemetery will follow immediately. The family will receive visitors at the church at 12:00 PM. The family requests that memorials be made to the Friendly Avenue Baptist Church Building Fund.