Janet Henson's Obituary
Janet Foucault Henson of Memphis, TN passed away December 14, 2021 in her home, surrounded by her children. She was born May 7, 1935, the second child of Edmund and Arlene Foucault, and raised in Wallingford, CT. She and her sister, Ann, attended convent school in Nicolet, Quebec, and she was a proud graduate of Lyman Hall High School in Wallingford. She attended Marymount College in Tarrytown, NY for her undergraduate and graduate work to become a teacher, her dream profession, just like her mother.
While in Colorado Springs finishing up her graduate studies and student teaching, she met a young man so desperate to have a date with her, he took both Janet and her roommate to dinner. She married Larry E. Henson the following year on May 23, 1959 in Memphis, TN.
Janet briefly taught at Willow Oaks Elementary in Memphis. However, her greatest dream profession was to be a mother. Janet and Larry adopted four children from St. Peter’s Orphanage: Jeffrey Lawrence Henson, David Wendell Henson, Kimberly Henson Cooley, and Karen Leigh Henson. Her children and family were always paramount until the day she died.
Throughout her life, summers were spent on Leete’s Island in Guilford, CT in the White Cottage that her grandparents built. It was the highlight of everyone’s year for Janet to spend time at the shore with her entire extended family and many old friends. Janet was renowned for her ability to find rare colored sand glass and pieces of coral. Her clam hunting talents were envied by all.
Janet enjoyed surrounding herself with friends, especially everyone from “the old neighborhood” in Scenic Hills, where she and Larry built their first house and neighbors became family. After her children were in high school and college, Janet began working with several close girlfriends at Antiques Etc., where she truly cultivated her love of English antiques and travelling through Europe. Janet enjoyed all things food related, gin and tonics, travel, and even Tennessee football (eventually). Janet never met a stranger and was famous for her wicked sense of humor and love of jokes, despite her utter inability to tell them correctly.
Janet is preceded in death by her parents, Edmund and Arlene, and her beloved husband of 48 years, Larry. She is survived by her four children, her four grandsons, Curran Henson (Emily), Cullen Henson, Fletcher Henson, and Wendell Henson, her three siblings, Ann Settel (Jim), Barbara Jean Garvey, and Peter Foucault, her daughters-in-law Terri Henson and Paige Henson, and son-in-law Dave Cooley, as well as a host of nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and nephews, and neighborhood children from wherever she lived, whom she always welcomed into her home and treated as her own.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Janet’s honor to either the Parkinson’s Foundation or the Branford Land Trust Jarvis Creek Salt Marsh Project, which is raising money to preserve and protect the wetlands around our beloved Leete’s Island.
The visitation will be Sunday, December 19, 2021, 2:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. with a Rosary at 5:00 p.m. at Memorial Park Funeral Home Riverside Chapel.
The funeral Mass will be held Monday, December 20, 1:30 p.m. at St. Louis Catholic Church; 203 S White Station Rd, Memphis, TN. 38117.
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