William Brantley Henderson Jr.

William (Bill) Brantley Henderson, Jr. passed away on October 29, 2022, at the age of 92 in Tallahassee, FL. A proud Florida native and the oldest of five children, he was born to William Brantley Henderson, Sr. and Eldis Parrish Henderson in Jacksonville, FL on November 19, 1929. Preceding him in death are sisters Carolyn Henderson Brumbach and Adrienne Henderson Michael.

An avid outdoorsman his entire life, he reminisced about being a young teenager and boarding a Jacksonville city bus with a .22 rifle in hand, and no one giving him a second glance. After riding to the very last stop on the outskirts of town, he would hunt squirrel and other small game in the woods.

Educated in Jacksonville public schools, Bill was a bright student and served as Senior Class Vice President, graduating near the top of his class from Robert E. Lee High School in 1948. Following graduation and while deciding what to do with his life, he took a job with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad where his father was an engineer. In 1950, world events - more specifically the outbreak of the Korean Conflict - made the decision for him wherein he enlisted in the United States Air Force.

Following completion of basic training and subsequent aptitude testing for determining which bases and jobs new recruits would be assigned to, Bill was assigned to a secret, new “base within a base” in Louisiana with no clear explanation of what his job would be. While awaiting word on what his job assignment would be, a phone call to his parents only deepened the mystery when his mother asked if he was OK or if he was in trouble, as the FBI had been questioning neighbors and former high school teachers about him. The mystery was solved upon his arrival at the barbed wire and armed security guard-ringed Bossier Base within Barksdale Air Force Base. As Bill was ushered into a massive underground bunker, his buddy whispered what Bill was thinking - “good Lord, please tell me that is not a nuclear bomb”. And thus began his 4-year up close and personal, as well as uneasy, relationship with nuclear weapons that included all facets of assembly and maintenance.

In 1954, Bill left the service and returned to Jacksonville, and with the benefit of the GI Bill enrolled in Jacksonville Junior College (now Jacksonville University). At a house party on Jacksonville Beach in 1956, he met and wooed 19-year-old fellow student Carol King with the ever-so-slick line of “hey, why haven’t you married?” Bill and Carol were married in 1957 and then moved to Gainesville, FL to complete their college educations at the University of Florida, where Bill was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in forestry.

In October 1959, Bill and Carol’s first child arrived. With another mouth to feed, Bill quickly realized that despite his love of the outdoors, his economic prospects might be greater in a line of work other than forestry. He entered the commercial insurance business with Safeco, first as a claims adjuster and then in commercial sales. He later joined Liberty Mutual as a commercial insurance sales representative, and following success in that role in 1967, he was offered a promotion to relocate to St. Petersburg, FL to manage the office in that area from which he retired in 1990.

Never forgetting his north Florida roots, Bill and Carol moved to Tallahassee in 2012. Bill is survived by his wife of 65 years Carol King Henderson, son William Brantley Henderson III of Tallahassee (Amy Funderburk Henderson), daughter Lisa Henderson Pearce of Tampa (Fred Pearce), grandson William Brantley Henderson IV of Jacksonville (fiancée Autumn Wable), sister Ann Henderson Boston of Jacksonville, brother Donald Henderson of Spokane, WA, as well as numerous nieces and a nephew. A kind and caring man who truly never met a stranger, his family will miss him dearly.

The family would like to thank the caregivers of Visiting Angels in Tallahassee, especially Kenyette Gaines, who provided kindness, compassion and comfort to Bill in his final days.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Culley’s MeadowWood in Tallahassee and Hardage-Giddens in Jacksonville, with burial at Riverside Memorial Park in Jacksonville.

Funeral Service will be held 10am Saturday November 5, 2022 with 1 hour prior visitation at Hardage-Giddens Riverside Memorial Park & Funeral Home, 7242 Normandy Blvd Jacksonville, FL 32205. Interment to follow at Riverside Memorial Park in Jacksonville, Florida.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.hgriversidefuneralhome.com for the Henderson family.