Lynella May Henke

Lynella May Henke passed away at the age of 51 in Vernon, BC on November 3rd, 2024 after an extensive battle with cancer. She is survived by her parents Eric and Mavis Jackson, her husband Trevor Henke, as well as her daughters Janessa and Myrissa Henke. She is predeceased by her daughter Lynza Henke who tragically passed away just 11 weeks before her. Lynella leaves behind two sisters and one brother, Jelaine (Eldon) Larson, Garth (Delicia) Jackson, and Glenda (Travis) Elley as well numerous nieces and nephews.

Lynella was born to Eric and Mavis Jackson in Vernon on Friday, April 13th, 1973. As a result, she always viewed Friday the 13th as her lucky day, and the number 13 as her lucky number. Lynella was always very ambitious and had a keen mind for business. She had paper routes throughout her childhood, and often delivered in excess of 100 papers per day. Vernon Daily News was her first employer, and she enjoyed spending evenings canvassing neighbourhoods and telemarketing for new newspaper subscriptions. It was a constant frustration to her siblings that she would always land the most new subscriptions and as a result win the most bonus prizes. On April 29th, 1984 at the age of 11 Lynella made her choice to follow Jesus wherever that path would take her. She stayed true to the commitment without wavering her entire life, allowing each difficult experience to strengthen her relationship with God.

Lynella graduated from Vernon Secondary School in 1991 and started a business program at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. In 1994 she opened a second location of the educational supply store her mother Mavis had started in the basement of the family home. Lynella started Teach and Learn in Penticton at the young age of 21, once again showing her business ambition. It was obvious even from that early age that she had a passion for retail sales and managing her own location of the store.

In April of 1995, she gave up all of her natural possessions and volunteered to enter the ministry to spread the Gospel Story. From 1995 to 2001 she worked as a homeless minister through BC and Montana. Lynella had to make the difficult decision to leave the ministry after suffering a serious car accident which left her with significant back pain. It was the first of many medical setbacks she encountered through life however, her faith through each difficult experience never faltered.

On July 19, 2002, Lynella married the love of her life, Trevor Henke. Trevor relocated to Vernon where they bought a house and started to build their life together. Less than a year later they made the decision to purchase Vernon Teach and Learn from her parents Eric and Mavis Jackson. Although she had put her love for the store on hold for several years, God’s plan had taken her in a full circle back to Vernon and back to retail sales. For almost 22 years Lynella has loved working with Trevor, their daughters and employees to build the business to what it is today, truly a family business with family values at its core. She would often mention how her employees felt like family to her, and she truly loved serving the community. In 2004 Lynella completed a Business Diploma from Thompson River University. In October, the Vernon Chamber of Commerce awarded Lynella with the “Business Leader of the Year Award” for excellence in business leadership and the dedication that she has shown to the Downtown Business Association. Lynella also became the first recipient of the “Lynza Legacy Award” which honors exceptional community leadership, collaborative efforts, and relentless pursuit of positive development in Downtown Vernon.

Often referred to as the “butterfly lady” due to her love of butterflies, Lynella went through some battles in life that to an outside observer would seem unfair. Even in her most difficult experience of losing her daughter Lynza while suffering through a battle with cancer, her faith stayed strong. She continued to do everything in her power to help encourage that same faith in others. She expressed her desire to keep fighting in order to be in her daughters’ lives for just a bit longer, but in the end, the battle was more than she had the strength to fight, and she slipped away quietly and calmly with her family at her side, to be with her daughter Lynza. Lynella’s example of faith and determination through adversity will be a strength for Trevor, Janessa and Myrissa.

There will be a Funeral Service held at 11am on Friday, November 8, 2024 at the Creekside Conference Center (3310 37 Ave, Vernon, BC).