John Merrill Henderson - Obituary

ohn Merrill Henderson, Captain (Ret.), USN Supply Corps, died November 4, 2020 of natural causes at home in Annapolis, MD. Born April 27, 1928 in Herkimer, NY, Captain Henderson graduated from The Manlius School and then spent a year in the Army Specialized Training Reserve Program. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1950. He earned his MBA from Stanford in 1960, and further degrees from the Armed Forces Staff College and the Naval War College. During his years of active duty, he served as the Supply Officer of the USS Leary and the USS Northampton (then the National Emergency Command Post Afloat), with additional posts in Madrid, Spain, and on both coasts of the U.S. He retired from the Navy in 1975 after serving as Commanding Officer of NAVILCO (then in in Bayonne, NJ). He had a second 17-year career as an executive at Navy Federal Credit Union headquarters. Then Lt. (j.g.) Henderson married Shelley Ann Lindner of Cincinnati, OH in 1952. They honeymooned en route to a new duty station in CA and went on to raise four daughters. In 1999 the Hendersons retired to Ginger Cove (a CCRC) in Annapolis, MD. There Captain Henderson served on various committees, including executive roles on the founding board of GC Foundation, the GC Friendship Fund, and the GC Residents Club, in addition to sitting on the Board of Directors of Annapolis Life Care, Inc., the not-for-profit that operates Ginger Cove. He sang in the community chorus, participated in numerous activities, and often pulled out his harmonica or peck horn for musical diversions. A lifelong Episcopalian, he and Shelley were founding members of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, VA. He served on the Vestry, including as Senior Warden, and was a dedicated choir member. In Annapolis, they were members of St. James’ Parish, Lothian, MD. Captain Henderson became an amateur magician at a young age, and was locally famed for his theatrics and good-humored speeches. A lover of pun and rhyme, he could always be counted on for a celebratory bit of doggerel in someone else’s honor. He was predeceased by his wife of 65 years and his daughter Ellen L. Briggs (R. Todd). He is survived by daughters Linda A. Henderson (Glen W. Atwood), Candace H. Smith (D. Neel), and Sylvia M. Henderson, as well as granddaughters Sarah-Neel Smith (John L. Cardellino), Annecca H. Smith (Patrick R. Scully), and Samantha M. Briggs. Inurnment in the columbarium at the US Naval Academy will occur at a future date. COVID-19 restrictions prevent a memorial service at this time. Contributions in his memory may be made to the USNA Foundation, 274 Wood Rd., Annapolis, MD 21402 or at https://www.usna.com/give (in memory of CAPT John M. Henderson, USN (Ret) ’50 on the memo line), or Ginger Cove Foundation, 4000 River Crescent Dr., Annapolis, MD 21401 (in memory of John M. Henderson on the memo line).