San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Obituary: Jim Henderson, former Novato mayor and decorated WWII veteran
Former Novato Mayor Jim Henderson, who helped transform Hamilton Field into housing and protected wetlands, and also helped improve his beloved hometown one flower box, pancake and storm drain at a time, has died.
Henderson, 95, died of cancer Feb. 7 in San Rafael.
A native of West Lake, La., Henderson came to California in a Model T Ford and graduated from the University of San Francisco. He served as a sergeant with the 104th Infantry during World War II and was awarded a Silver Star for valor for rescuing a wounded comrade.
Henderson was elected to the Novato City Council in 1997 and served as mayor in 2001. During his tenure, he was active in the restoration of the decommissioned air base and supported the Stone Tree housing, golf course and wetlands preservation project.
“He was a gentleman, so sweet, so considerate, so polite, all the things that seem to go by the wayside these days,” recalled his friend and former City Council member Cynthia Murray. “He respected everyone. You always got a fair hearing. He wasn’t political. It was all about what was best for Novato.”
A quiet man with a sharp sense of humor, Henderson seemed to be on a first-name basis with everyone in town. In later years he judged middle school debates, counseled high school students and tended a municipal flower box. He flipped pancakes for a seniors club, flipped hamburgers for the Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter, marched in the Western Weekend Parade and served as a lector and as a member of the parish council at Our Lady of Loretto Catholic Church. He ran school carnival booths and, with his grandchildren, painted “flows to the creek” messages on Novato storm drains. He was named Novato Citizen of the Year in 2005.
For more than six decades, Henderson lived with his family in the same single-story house a few blocks west of City Hall. By profession he was a lumber wholesaler. “If it’s wood,” he was fond of telling anyone within earshot, “it’s good.”
He was also fond of tulips, singing, Thanksgiving, gadgets, county fairs and duct tape.
Four months ago, he traveled with his daughter Maggie to Washington, D.C., on an “Honor Flight” for a reunion with fellow veterans at the World War II memorial.
“At every stop, crowds cheered, firetrucks shot water over the plane, tons of people shook hands and thanked the service people,” his daughter recalled. “It was very emotional.”
Henderson is survived by his wife of 18 years, Agnes; daughters Maggie Cox of San Luis Obispo and Diane Glischinski of San Rafael; sons Jim Jr. of Sacramento and John of Roseville; and nine grandchildren. His first wife, Marge, died in 1994, and his son Michael died in 2011.
A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Monday at Our Lady of Loretto Catholic Church, 1806 Novato Blvd., Novato.
Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein @sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF