LARRY HENSCHEN
January 8, 1935 – April 14, 2007
Larry G. Henschen was born to Lawrence and Dorothea Henschen. Larry graduated from Arsenal Technical High School, Indianapolis, in 1953 and from Purdue University in 1957. He married Shirley J. Alley in 1958. His entire career was spent in aerospace, including 18 years of work on the space shuttle and space station for NASA-Johnson Space Center in Houston; he retired from Boeing in 2002. He was preceded in death by his parents and survived by his wife of 48 years, Shirley; daughters Carla J. Carey (Shawn) and Patricia R. Henschen; granddaughters Catherine and Emily Carey. He was especially interested in environmental issues, philately, and genealogical research.
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David and I met Shirley and Larry when we moved to Phoenix and became great friends. Shirley kindly and ably worked hard at our business there. Larry and Shirley became our great friends. If you go on the tour at NASA near Houston, there is a huge building that has a replica of one of the space shuttle modules in it. Right under and in front of it is a desk. That was Larry’s desk. He tested the computer workings of the shuttle to make sure all would go okay before launch. Larry and Shirley went on a trip to Mexico with the Heard Museum in the 1990s. While there, they were taken to a school. The school had solar energy but it wasn’t working. Larry and Shirley raised money and interest among their tour group and later Larry and one or two other men went back to Mexico with supplies and tools and got the school’s solar power working again.
Larry and Shirley built a beautiful home in the ICA community north of Puerto Vallarta. They tried to teach David and I to play bridge and we did have fun at it. Larry and Shirley were quite a team at that! David and Larry worked on the lights and the solar systems. It is up the hill from the beach and ocean. We watched whales cavorting in the bay there. It is gorgeous, white with arches on the porches, beautiful woodwork, and bananas that taste like apples in the yard. When Larry was a child he had a nick name of Sparky because of his interest in how things like spark plugs worked.
~~ Ann Shafer
SHIRLEY HENSCHEN
December 7, 1936 – December 7, 2019
Shirley J. Henschen, of Chandler, Arizona, was born in Peppertown, IN, to William and Beatrice (Green) Alley. Shirley graduated from Purdue University in 1958 with a degree in English and married Larry G. Henschen, of Indianapolis, IN, on June 29, 1958. They were married got 47 years, until Larry’s death in 2007.
The couple had two children, Carla and Patricia. Shirley also was devoted to her career as a teacher and a volunteer for the Institute of Cultural Affairs. She later entered the banking field, earning a master’s degree in Finance from UHCL and supervising the credit department at Bank One in Houston. After moving to Chandler in 1995 for Larry’s job, Shirley worked as a bookkeeper at ColorMark. She continued her volunteer work by co-founding ongoing women’s retreats, reading to young children, speaking to Carla’s Deaf Ed students and Patricia’s college students, and becoming a docent for Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix.
Shirley is survived by daughters Carla J. Carey and Patricia R. Henschen, granddaughters Catherine A. Carey and Emily R. Schultz (Austin), sister Marjorie Frye, extended family, and numerous friends. She is predeceased by husband Larry G. Henschen, parents William and Bea, sister Bonnie Maupin, brother Bill Alley, and son-in-law Shawn P. Carey.
Larry and I first met at one of the early Movemental Order Councils–it may even have been the very first one in 1966. I can recall how full of excitement he was then over what he’d been a part of accomplishing in Framingham, MA–which was one of our earliest applications of the 5th City presuppositions outside of Chicago. I think we recognized each other from the start as fellow regional warriors, and we struck up a lasting colleagueship and friendship. There was always an edge in our relationship–a bit competitive, probably (we were guys, after all!)–and neither of us hesitated for a moment to challenge or push the other’s thinking, assumptions, acting or mode of being. It was always good natured, but it was also deeply serious.
We mainly saw and worked together at the summer programs and councils in Chicago up through 1970. He had a highly developed bullshit detector, which was pretty much always active. This had at times to prove irritating to those around him. Once convinced that something was the necessary deed, however, Larry always put his whole being into making it happen. It was just that he did require solid convincing. He always had that characteristic slightly crooked smile–the outward manifestation of his highly developed sense of humor–something that allowed him, even when hurt or angry, to find some comedic elements in any given situation.
I celebrate Larry’s completed life. We shared many similar experiences from the early days of the movement. He was always one of my great colleagues in the spirit movement.
~~ Gordon Harper