Mr. Archibald Henderson

During World War II he was a captain in the Army Air Corps, serving as a B-24 navigator in the 8th Air Force, and flying 30 missions, including 2 on D-Day, the 6th of June 1944. For his wartime service in England and the European theater he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal.

Before the war he earned bachelors and masters degrees from the University of North Carolina. After the war, he earned a doctoral degree in English from Columbia.

After an outstanding career playing for the Carolina tennis team, he embarked on the amateur tennis circuit, recording victories over many of the great players of his era, including Bobby Riggs and Jack Kramer. For his achievements, he was inducted into the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame in 1975.

He began his teaching career at Auburn and Sophie Newcomb College before moving to Houston in 1954, where he served as a professor of English at the University of Houston until his retirement in 1982. He was the author of 4 volumes of poetry.

He was a longtime member of The Episcopal Church of St. John the Divine.

He is survived by his two sons, Archibald Henderson III and his wife Luisa, and their two children Alex and John; and Russell Van Henderson.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five o’clock in the afternoon until eight o’clock in the evening on Monday, the 21st of March, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

A graveside service is to be conducted at eleven o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 22nd of March, at Grand View Memorial Park, 8501 Spencer Highway in Pasadena.

The memorial service is to follow at half-past one o’clock that afternoon in the Chapel of the Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks Boulevard in Houston, where the Rev. Dr. Douglas W. Richnow, Senior Associate Rector, is to officiate.

Immediately following the service, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent Parlor.

In lieu of customary remembrances, and for those desiring, memorial contributions in Mr. Henderson’s name be directed to the charity of one’s choice.