Terry Wayne Hendershott

Born in Louellen, Kentucky in 1951, Terry was adopted at a young age along with his sisters Barbara and Patty into the Hendershott family, which saw them move to Louisville, Kentucky. There were additional brothers & sisters they were unfortunately separated from, but were able to later in life be reconnected with thanks to the help of one of his younger brothers, Gary.

Terry continued to live in Louisville until after high school, where he had then joined the Coast Guard in the early 70’s and was posted to a station in Keokuk, Iowa to patrol the great Mississippi River, where he had quickly met his first wife, Susan. Eventually the young couple moved to Oregon and soon after had their daughter Lisa. Oregon suited Terry quite well, as he enjoyed going to the beach, camping and hiking, and would often reminisce later in life about hiking up to the top of Willamette Falls with baby Lisa in a backpack.

After an honorable discharge from the Coast Guard, and other life changes, Terry found himself to be a co-owner of the Milwaukie Care Center, where he would eventually meet his second wife and the love of his life, Norma. They would always laugh about how their early courtship involved the both of them using translation dictionaries to communicate. With their wedding in 1995, Terry gained another daughter Lorena, sons Josue and Joel, and his grandson Omar.

Around the same time that Terry & Norma began their new lives together, Terry made his final career change by becoming a mechanic for FedEx Freight, where he would continue to work for the next 30 years.

After suffering the tragic loss of Norma in 2013, Terry eventually became the caregiver for Helen Lee until her passing in 2018.

In addition to his love of being in the outdoors, Terry also regularly enjoyed a venti decaf latte from Starbucks, taking walks, talking about the weather, salmon fishing (even the times he didn’t catch one), going to movies, and hitting the casino.