Kathaleen Williams Hensley

Funeral Services for Kathaleen Williams Hensley, 91, of the Spring Hill community, Longview, will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 5, 2007, at Elmira Chapel Cumberland Presbyterian Church with the Rev. James Cantey officiating.  Interment will follow in the Elmira Chapel Cemetery under the direction of Rader Funeral Home.

Mrs. Hensley passed away Sunday, July 1, 2007, at Good Shepherd Hospital, Longview, following a short illness. 

Born Oct. 5, 1915, in Cherokee County to James Thomas (Tom) and Vernie Williams, she was lovingly known as “Nana” to her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all their friends.  She was a graduate of Dialville High School in Cherokee County and married R. G. Hensley in 1935. R. G. and Kathaleen Hensley and their two children moved from Jacksonville to the Spring Hill community in 1945, where Mr. Hensley was first High School Principal and later Superintendent of the Spring Hill school district for many years. Mrs. Hensley worked for a time as a saleslady for Fedway, Thompsons, and McIntosh in Longview in the 1950’s. She and her husband relocated to Parker, Az., in 1965, where they lived for two years before moving to the Washington, D.C., area where Mr. Hensley was employed by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and Kathaleen served as a teacher’s aide at one of the elementary schools in Alexandria, Va.  They returned to Longview in 1971, where Mrs. Hensley, affectionately known as “Kathy” by her students and co-workers, served as a teacher’s aide in the Special Education Departments of several Longview ISD schools.

Mrs. Hensley was a long-time active member of Elmira Chapel Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  She was an avid gardener and a member of the garden club.  She was very creative and artistic and loved to sew, crochet, and quilt, having several award-winning quilts to her credit.

Mrs. Hensley was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years, Mr. R. G. Hensley. She is survived by one sister, Lela Mae Williams Moore of Houston, two children, Jerry Hensley of Houston and Dr. Barbara Hensley Modisette, of Longview, son-in-law James (Jody) Modisette of Longview, four grandchildren, Tom Hensley and wife Stacy of Houston, Philip Modisette and spouse Juanita of Atlanta, Ga., Bret Modisette and wife Della of Grand Prairie, and Jay Modisette of Longview, step-great-grandchildren, Sharon (Sherrie) Stoltmann, Brian Young, and Colin Young of Atlanta, Ga., Kennedy and Maggie Simpson and Madison and Mason Bartley of Tatum.

Information from The Jacksonville Daily Progress