Elvis J Henson

Elvis Jack Henson, 82, passed away peacefully at his home on Sunday, April 14, 2019.

He was born to Marion and May (Lovett) Henson on May 21, 1936, the 9th of 11 children.

He spent several years in the Army, serving in Okinawa in the early 1950’s.  In 1957, he married Carolyn Fay Pace and migrated north to Chicago, following his brother, Chester, into the drywall business. From there he started his own drywall company eventually moving to Harvard, IL in 1968. 

In Harvard, he built his life and raised 4 children.  He managed to build his company and eventually branched out into real estate development.  He purchased many properties that were forgotten or abandoned and turned them into thriving businesses that Harvard could be proud of. He did all this with just a GED he earned in the Army.  He loved to play cards with his brothers and buy real estate.  He worked hard all his life and was never one to take a day off or knock off early.  If there was a job to be done, the sooner the better. 

He was preceded in death by his parents and 8 siblings, Bernice Daniels, Lucille Hanks, Chester Henson, Loretta Henson, Judy Schultz, Margaret Henson, Dortha Henson, and Larry Henson. A grandson, Connor Schulz. 

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Carolyn, children  Sheila Henson (John Blank), Bryan (Angela) Henson, David (Alice) Henson, and Kelley (Jay) Schulz, 8 grandchildren, Maggie (Nate) Binz, Alanna Henson, Grant Henson, Ethan Schulz, Grace Schulz, Caleb Schulz, Jared (Ashley) Blank, and Ashland Henson.  6 Great Grandchildren, Elijah, Hayden, Macy and Emillyne Binz and Ava and Archer Friend. A sister Geneva (Brooks) Clay and a brother Kenny (Louise) Henson.

A celebration of his life will be held this Saturday, April 20, 2019, at The Stratford Banquet hall, 21007 McGuire Road, Harvard, IL.  Visitation will begin at 1pm with light refreshments, services, and military honors will begin at 3pm.

In Lieu of Flowers, the family asks that contributions can be made to the Elvis Henson memorial fund in future support of a scholarship fund in Elvis’ name.

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