Jerry Henness
My Dad went home to Jesus 9-24-13.
Nov. 13, 1940 — Sept. 24, 2013
Class of 1958, El Dorado High School, Placerville, CA
Jerald Raiff Henness, 72, our
beloved father, brother, grandfather, uncle and friend, went to be with the Lord
Jesus on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. He was born on Nov. 13, 1940, in Whittier,
Calif., to Marion G. and Marion E. Henness. He began school in a one-room
schoolhouse in Garden Valley in 1947 and later graduated from El Dorado High
School in 1958. Growing up with his brothers in Meadow Brook, near Garden
Valley, he loved telephones and became known by the local telephone company for
occasionally climbing poles, tapping connections, and making calls home to his
mother.
Jerry attended Sierra College, graduating in 1961, and entered the U.S. Air
Force, serving as a missile maintenance technician from 1963-1967 and working on
the MinuteMan missiles. In 1968 he joined the California Highway Patrol and
served with distinction 30 years before retiring in 1998. Over his lifetime he
gained a wide range of occupational experience, from electrician and irrigation
technician to driving school buses, forest fire water trucks and funeral home
vehicles. He continued his education at California Missionary Baptist Institute
and Seminary in 1973. He made a trip to the Holy Lands with a missionary group
in 1976 and graduated from seminary in 1977.
Jerry will be dearly missed by his church congregation, Lighthouse Missionary
Baptist Church. He was a faithful friend and servant, helping with church
finances, transportation, web design, electrical work and maintenance. Over the
years, he traveled to assist with the construction of other Missionary Baptist
Churches in Las Vegas, Colorado, and Washington State. In his spare time, he was
an avid family historian and enjoyed amateur radio, computers, web design and
caring for his two cats.
Jerry was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by two sons, James
(Jim) M. Henness and Nina of Nashville, Tenn., and Jason R. Henness and wife,
Ann Baughman-Henness of Des Moines, Iowa; and two brothers, Bill Henness of
Helena, Mont., and Mike Henness and wife, Rose of Ione, Calif. He had six
grandchildren, Derrick Shaver, Natasha Shaver, Brianna Henness, Mariah Henness
and Bryce Baughman of Des Moines, Iowa, and Bryce Henness of Nashville, Tenn. He
is also survived by a niece, Janel Caton and husband, Jeff of Eagle, Colo.; and
three nephews, Steven Henness and wife, KerrI of Columbia, Mo., John Travis
Henness of Ione, Calif., and (Michael) Cory Henness and wife, Annie Schrantz-Henness
of Ione.
In 2009, Jerry wrote these words, requesting they be included in his obituary
some day:
“Like most people my age, I have accomplished a number of things in my life,
but those things are not important and need not be listed here. The thing that
is important is my relationship with the Lord. I came into this world with
nothing, and I’m leaving the same way. The only thing I am taking has already
gone on before me: my works for God. I am compelled, constrained to say that, ‘I love Jesus, because He first loved me!’ and ‘’Tis only one life, ’twill soon be
past, only what’s done for Christ will last.’”
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