Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

July 25, 2021

MATTHEWS – She was the “little red-haired nurse” to loved ones and the countless number of patients she cared for in a long and meaningful career. Ren Henderson passed away on Sunday, July 25, 2021, after several years of declining health, courageous in the face of illness and content with the life that God provided. She was 96.

Ren was born on November 9, 1924, in Asheville, NC, the only child of Norris and Flossie Cassels. After graduating from Lee Edwards High School in Asheville, she answered the call to nursing and graduated from Memorial Mission School of Nursing in 1943. Too young to take the state nursing exam, she went to work for the R.J. Reynolds tobacco family, caring for a child with special needs.

She continued her education a few years later, graduating from Asheville Biltmore College (now UNC-Asheville) in 1950. That’s where she met the love of her life, Bill Henderson. The two were married on March 4, 1950 and settled with their three children a decade later in Charlotte, where he worked as a comptroller. Ren and Bill spent fifty-one years together before he died in 2001.
Ren’s servant heart distinguished her work as a nurse. She worked in the ER at Charlotte Memorial Hospital (now Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center) and taught in the School of Nursing. Ren embraced the constant action of the ER, saying that working in a doctor’s office would have been too slow paced. She and a colleague were the first two NC nurses to receive Occupational Health Nurse Certification. Ren finished her career of nearly fifty years as an industrial nurse at General Tire and Westinghouse.

She raised her children with a firm but gentle hand, teaching them to love God and to work hard. Ren worked part-time when they were young so she could be a constant presence in their lives. Cub Scout den mother, Girl Scout troop leader and cookie chairperson, PTA president – if one of her kids was involved, so was Ren. No task was too tough, even the time she took a hatchet and chopped off the head of a poisonous snake on a Girl Scout camping trip.

Ren is survived by her two daughters, Ren Jetton of Charlotte and Sally Yeargin and her husband, Tony, of Weddington. She is also survived by five grandchildren and nine great- grandchildren. In addition to her husband Bill, she was preceded in death by her son, William Wesley Henderson Jr., son-in-law, David Jetton, and infant grandson, William Andrew Yeargin.
Is there a sweeter life than one devoted to faith, family and patients in need of your care? Ren loved her church, University Hills Baptist, and everyone in the Faithful Workers Sunday School class.

The annual family beach trip was a grand tradition with summer days ending with spirited card games. Ren was known to intentionally lose so a grandchild could taste the thrill of victory. Putting others first. That was her legacy.

The family is deeply grateful for the love and care shown by staff and residents of Matthews Glen (formerly Plantation Estates), where she lived for eighteen years. Grateful thanks also go to Hospice & Pallative Care Charlotte Region.

Memorials may be made to University Hills Baptist Church, 1500 Suther Road, Charlotte, NC 28213 or Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region, PO Box 470408, Charlotte, NC 28247.  

The family will hold a private graveside service.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606. Online condolences can be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.