Carol Henderson

July 25, 1940 –

May 28, 2023

Carol was born in New Jersey to Nellie and Leon Hood. She attended a summer course at Harvard to learn the Dari language and spent a year in Afghanistan with her parents before she attended college. It was in college at Middlebury where she met her husband, Michael Henderson. She and Michael went on to Teachers' College at Columbia University in New York City where they both received Masters' degrees. Carol taught the English language in Kabul, Afghanistan and Tripoli, Libya in the late 1960s. She returned to the U.S. with Michael when he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received his Ph.D. in Linguistics. Carol moved to Lawrence in 1975 when Michael was hired to be the Director of the Applied English Center at KU. Carol worked at the KU Language Laboratory in Wescoe Hall as Assistant Director for a number of years and then decided to pursue her creative passions. She attended courses at KU in Industrial Design and Art. The creative skills she honed at KU were on full display in the work she did for the Lawrence Humane Society and Douglas County Democratic Party. She wrote a column for the Journal-World about pets called ‘You and Your Pet.’

Carol loved animals and worked tirelessly with the Lawrence Humane Society to raise money for the new facility. She and Michael were both active in the Douglas County Democratic Party–he computerized the mailings and she created designs for many of the yard signs of successful local candidates.

Carol was a loving wife and caregiver for Michael who passed away in April 2018. Carol spent the last five years at Neuvant House, in the company of her beloved cats. She was preceded in death by her parents and sister, Lois Sastry. She is survived by her niece and nephew, Anjali and Narayan Sastry and their families.

A celebration in memory of both Carol and Michael Henderson will be held on what would have been Carol's 83rd birthday, Tuesday, July 25th from 5:30 to 7pm at 1101 Ohio, Lawrence, Kansas. Friends are asked to bring their memories of the Hendersons to share at this gathering. Carol and Michael's cats, Basil and Charlie, would like for you to come.