Obituary of Dorothy May Henderson

Dorothy Henderson
1942-2023

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dorothy Henderson, on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, after a brief illness at the age of 81.

Dorothy will be remembered by her children, Hannah Meyer (Stephen), Bill Henderson and Brent Henderson; grandchildren, Anthony, Daniel, and Aaron Meyer; sister Donna (John) Stewart; as well as many other friends and relatives. She was predeceased by her husband, Ken Henderson; parents, Bill and Lillian Shoemaker; brothers, Morris, Jock, Ray and Wayne Shoemaker; and sisters Shirley Hill and Merle Ghaney.

Dorothy was born and raised in the town of Lenore, a few miles north of Virden, MB. Her father worked for the CPR, and she grew up one of eight brothers and sisters. They were a very close family, her brothers and sisters remained close friends of hers. In her mid-20s she started her own family with her husband, Ken, in Estevan, SK. They moved to Moose Jaw when Ken took a job at Kalium, and that’s where the kids went to school.

Dorothy’s home was always open, and was the hub for family celebrations and late-night canasta games. She was a foster parent for several years, and also hosted several AAA Warriors when the team was in need of billets.

Dorothy’s passion was cooking, both personally and professionally. She worked in a number of food service and catering roles, including the concession at Warrior games in the winter and at the Wild Animal Park in the summer. Dorothy was realizing a dream of opening her own restaurant when Ken passed away in 1990, and she greatly missed him for the rest of her life. Dorothy went on to run several other cooking and catering businesses, the last one before her retirement being the food services at Victoria Towers.

Dorothy’s retirement didn’t last long. She started out as a volunteer at the Cosmo senior center, but later moved on to part-time cooking and catering. Cosmo was more than just a job; it was a place where she found community and her friends there were like family. She was still working there at the time of her passing.

A Celebration of Dorothy’s life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, November 27, 2023 at the Cosmo Senior Citizen’s Centre, 235 3rd Avenue, Moose Jaw. Interment to be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Stars Air Ambulance, https://stars.ca/get-involved/ways-to-donate/