Bishop Henshaw, local Mormon leader, dies

In 1957, a small band of members of a then-obscure faith in the area met in a tiny building they had outgrown on Richmond's North Side.

Presiding over the Richmond Ward, or congregation, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was Bishop George Thomas "Tommy" Henshaw Jr., a paper-products salesman and farmer who lived in very rural Midlothian.

Not only did he have the vision to procure a lot for a spacious new building, said J. Christopher Lansing of Richmond, a member of the church's Sixth Quorum of Seventy, "he had to come up with the money and then provide the labor [to build the church]."

The church broke ground Nov. 16, 1958, and the next day members arrived en masse with picks and shovels to dig the foundation. From then until they began to meet at 5600 Monument Ave. in 1960, the Mormon members worked six nights a week and all day Saturdays, donating 2,000 hours of labor a month to complete the church.

Bishop Henshaw, who had served in nearly every leadership capacity in the local church, was laid to rest Saturday in Dale Memorial Park. The Powhatan County resident was 88 when he died Dec. 5 in a Richmond hospice.

His church service, all voluntary, included more than 10 years as a counselor in a three-man bishopric, seven years as the Richmond Ward's second bishop and 14 years as a counselor in the Richmond stake, or diocesan presidency. In 1987, he was called as stake patriarch, a priesthood post he held for 10 years in which he gave members patriarchal blessings.

Glade M. Knight of Midlothian, in the Army at Fort Lee, was attending his first church meeting in the area when he met then-President Henshaw, who introduced himself and took in Knight and his wife as part of his family.

"When we came here, Tommy's name was synonymous with the church," Knight said. "He was just the foundation. He spoke at all the funerals. He was just there to help. His home, his farm, his life. … All of it was committed to the building of the kingdom of God."

He lived near a brother on the old family farm in Midlothian but later purchased acreage in Powhatan. He called working on his farm in Powhatan "going to glory," said a son, Vernon McKay Henshaw of Lehi, Utah. For nearly 40 years, the Henshaw Farm was the site of church picnics and socials, Boy Scout outings and singles activities, as well as a hub for civic groups.

Born in Midlothian in 1923, Bishop Henshaw was reared by hard-working Christian farmer parents who "loved and honored their children," his son said.

His great-grandparents were pioneering members of the LDS church in the Richmond area in 1893, and young Tommy never could remember missing a Sunday at church.

Bishop Henshaw went to work for Epes-Fitzgerald Paper Co. three days after graduating from Midlothian High School and stayed there until he retired, except for his Army service during World War II.

He married Carrie Lee Sadler, who worked side by side with him in the church and helped him and his sister care for their elderly parents. He was Carrie Lee's primary caregiver for years after her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis. She died in 1996.

"I've been around people who were heroes," said another son, George T. Henshaw III of Destin, Fla. "I was raised by a hero. He lived a Christ-like life. He always wanted to have it said of him, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant.' "

Survivors include his wife since 2002, Betty Sue McGee Henshaw; two daughters, Jane Marilyn Friel of Mapleton, Utah, and Patty Witt of Midlothian; two stepsons, Walter Daniel "Danny" Henshaw Jr. of Buckingham County and James Alton Henshaw of Cumberland County; a brother, Floyd Grant Henshaw; and a sister, Dorothy Tilman, both of Powhatan; and 22 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.