Dale Native Florence Henderson Dies At 82
Here’s the story of a lovely lady.
By all accounts, Florence Agnes Henderson was indeed a kind and generous woman who found fame like no other Dale native ever did – unless you count Abraham Lincoln; but he was really a Kentucky native who lived near Little Pigeon Creek before there was a Dale.
The 82-year-old actress and singer died of heart failure on Nov. 24 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif., surrounded by family and friends.
The youngest of 10 children, Henderson was born on Feb. 14, 1934, to Joseph and Elizabeth (Elder) Henderson. Her father was a tobacco sharecropper and by all accounts, including that of Henderson herself in her memoir, the family was quite poor. Her mother liked to sing and recognized Florence’s talent when she was just two years old. By the time she was 12, Henderson was singing in local grocery stores.
She was deeply influenced and encouraged by members of the Benedictine Sisters of Ferdinand during her grade school years at St. Bernard’s in Rockport, especially by Benedictine Sister Gemma Gettelfinger (her teacher in grades one through five), who, Florence remembered in 2002 during a visit to the Ferdinand monastery, always warmed her hands and feet after a long walk to school, and brushed her hair before class began.
According to Sister Paulette Seng, other sisters who influenced Henderson included Sister Mary William Moore, Sister Jeannette Tenbarge, Sister Scholastica Harpenau and Sister Mary Delores Gaesser (all deceased). Henderson later claimed the sisters taught her to sight read Gregorian chants, thus expanding her musicality.
Thanks to the generosity of the sisters, Henderson attended and then graduated from Indiana’s St. Frances Academy in Owensboro, Ky., in 1951 before setting her sights on New York City, where she studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
She didn’t have long to wait before her talent was discovered, debuting on Broadway in the musical “Wish You Were Here” in 1952, and later starring on Broadway in the long-running 1954 musical, “Fanny” (888 performances), in which she originated the title role.
Her light continued to shine, and she appeared in “Oklahoma” and several television specialsx, and also portrayed Meg March in a CBS-TV musical adaptation of “Little Women,” which aired October 16, 1958.
She was most widely known for her role as “The Brady Bunch” matriarch Carol Brady (1969-74), and appeared on many other television series, including “The Love Boat,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “L.A. Law,” “Roseanne,” “The King of Queens,” and “Dancing with the Stars.” She reprised the role of Carol Brady in several “Brady Bunch” spin-off shows and films.
Henderson was the first woman to guest-host “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” during a transitional period in 1962.
Primarily owing to her role on “The Brady Bunch,” Henderson was ranked by “TV Land” and “Entertainment Weekly” as No. 54 on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Icons.
Following the end of her run on “The Brady Bunch,” she hosted her own talk show, “The Florence Henderson Show,” and a cooking show, “Who’s Cooking with Florence Henderson?” Her most recent film and television roles continued through this year.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, she sang “God Bless America” at the Indianapolis 500 accompanied by the Purdue All-American Marching Band, at the request of the Hulman-George family, owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Henderson was immortalized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996.
She was married twice. With her first husband, Ira Bernstein, she had four children — Barbara, Joseph, Bob and Elizabeth.
She married her second husband, Dr. John George Kappas, in 1987. He preceded her in death in 2002.
About that same time she became a public benefactor to the Sisters of St Benedict, appeared in a number of their promotional videos and helped in fundraising efforts. She won money for Monastery Immaculate Conception on the game show “Weakest Link;” and on a classic-television-themed episode of “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire,” she won $32,000 in their name.
Surviving with her four children are a brother, John Henderson, Sr., of Rockport; two sisters, Ilean Henderson Schmidt of Tell City and Emily Henderson Miller of Rhode Island; five grandchildren; and nieces and nephews, many of whom still reside in Spencer County.
Preceding her in death were her parents; her husband, Dr. John George Kappas; two sisters, Marcelline Henderson Mason and Pauline Henderson Wathen; and four brothers, infant Leo, and Joseph, Carl and Thomas.
Following a private funeral, she was buried at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, Calif.
Tretter is editor of the Ferdinand News and the Spencer County Leader. We are grateful for her contribution of this story to The Message.
