Jared Henderson, 1989-2009
By Heather Lende
Friends and family of Jared Todd Henderson gathered
Sunday to tell stories, write memories on a poster for his parents and look at photos of
the youth who died May 6 in a canoe accident. He was 19 and had lived in Haines five
years.
“It was a gorgeous day, and there was a great bunch
of kids there, he enjoyed them so much as friends,” said Jared’s mother, Julie
Henderson.
Henderson was born in La Grande, Ore. and grew up in
nearby Imbler, where he participated in T-ball, soccer, and Scouting.
He won spelling bees in grade school. “We always
asked him to spell things. He was very, very sharp,” his mother said. She said he
loved to read. “The books he ordered from Amazon were way over my head.”
As a junior high student, he traveled to Washington D.C.
and New York City with a Future Business Leaders of America club and raised and sold pigs
in the Future Farmers of America.
Henderson wrestled on Haines High School’s fledgling
squad. Henderson enjoyed being on the water and rarely allowed others to take the helm of
the family skiff.
“Jared loved Alaska from the day he got here,”
his mother said.
Father Alan
Henderson said his son was always on the go snowboarding, rock climbing and riding
snowmachines. “If he had a tank of gas, he’d run out.”
He was a familiar sight driving around the valley in a
small, blue Ford Focus, often giving rides to others.
Friend Samantha Clay said Henderson once helped her when
she couldn’t hold a gathering at her house. “When Jared heard, he said we could
all come to his house. He drove all the way in from 26 Mile and picked us up, and drove us
all home afterward.”
Henderson didn’t graduate with the class of 2008 at
Haines High, as planned, because, as computer teacher Sam McPhetres said, “He really
enjoyed the social aspects of school.”
McPhetres said Henderson had an exceptional mind, and was
“beyond gifted” on computers. He redesigned the high school web page and often
took minutes to complete challenging computer tasks that McPhetres said he still can’t
do.
Henderson worked for AP&T as a lineman last summer
and previously for Delta Western. Fred Gray said Henderson was a good worker, “but
that could be on a resume. Jared was warm-hearted.”
Tomi Scovill said Henderson volunteered to clean up after
her store was flooded last spring. “He was a very nice young man. I liked him.”
She recalled his smile and reserved good humor. “Just like a lot of kids do, they
made choices that were hard for us to understand, but usually that’s part of growing
up.”
In addition to his parents and brother Austin of Haines,
Henderson is survived by grandparents Lois Henderson, Sonny Presley, and Carolyn Helman,
and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
A
funeral will be held 3 p.m. May 16 at Summerville Cemetery Chapel in Summerville, Ore.
Cards may be sent to the family at P.O. Box 1344, Haines
.