Aileen McHenry

Mary “Aileen” McHenry was born on November 6, 1929, to Dewey and Lena Higgins King in Wellington, Texas. Four years later, following a rift in her family, she ended up, with her 2 sisters, in a children's home In Lawton, Oklahoma. There she had the great fortune of being adopted by Mark and Ethel Dowd in Lawton, Oklahoma, where she spent the remainder of her younger years. It was in Lawton where she met the love of her life, Jerry McHenry, when they were around 13 years old. In 1951, the two would marry. Aileen always said that 1951 was the year her life began -- it was the year she graduated college, got married, and got her first teaching job.

In 1961, Jerry and Aileen, with children in tow, moved to Tucson in pursuit of education positions. Aileen was a teacher through and through. She worked in TUSD, holding both teaching and administrative positions from 1961 until her retirement nearly 30 years later. As a teacher, a mother, and a strong independent woman, she was ever a champion for the marginalized. She felt that everyone deserves equal opportunity for success. She also had a bit of a soft spot for the “troublemakers,” recognizing that not every student came from a loving home like the one she and Jerry cultivated for their children, and there was always room at the dinner table for anyone who might happen by. Aileen touched many lives, and with each person she encountered, she instilled in them that they could be anything they wanted to be and encouraged and supported them to be who they are.

It was with this nurturing and problem-solving mindset that she and a colleague, Marge Streiff, spent months writing a curriculum for English as a Second Language. Recognizing that so many of her students came from Spanish-only households, she tried to impress that people must first learn to read and write in their primary language before being expected to read and write in English. Unfortunately, in the 1960s this idea was poorly accepted in the educational community and it would take many more years for it to come to fruition. Once it did, Aileen was happy to see districts recognizing and implementing the pathways to success for students that she so fully believed in.

The last 2 years of her life, Aileen lived at The Groves, which she came to think of as “home.” It was a tremendous blessing for her family to know that she was happy and so well taken care of by the loving staff at the residential home, especially Norma, Irene, Joanne, and Gille. The family sends so much love and appreciation to these incredible women.

Aileen passed away at “home,” surrounded by family and with Jerry by her side, on October 29, 2024, just a week shy of her 95th birthday. She was preceded in death by her grandson, Joshua Puckett and her son-in-law, Richard “Don” Puckett. Also, all six of her natural and adoptive siblings. She is survived by her husband, Jerry, her children Connie, Sharon, Susan (Glen), Chuck (Cynthia), and Cindy (Chuck), her grandchildren Katie (Ben), Clay (Mollie), Alec, Mac, and Austin, her great-grandson, Mason, numerous nieces, nephews, and grand nieces and grand nephews.

There are no plans for services at this time; instead, if you’d like to honor her, please be kind to someone who needs it, plant some flowers, watch some birds, or be the change you wish to see in the world.