Catherine "Kaye" Henderson

Catherine “Kaye” Duncan Henderson passed away on October 4, 2020 at the age of 85. She was born January 8, 1935 in El Paso, TX to Catherine Austin Connolly and Joseph Weldon Bailey Duncan.

Kaye is survived by children David (and Cindy) Henderson, Cathy (and Tyson) Dearduff, Curtis (and Barbara) Henderson, and grandchildren Kelly, Tyler, Duncan, Christopher “Kipp’, Lucas, Tabor, and Roland, and sister Connie Connelly, and brother Bill Duncan. Kaye is preceded in death by spouse Eddie “Corky” J. Henderson.

Kaye married Eddie in 1955. Kaye worked as an office assistant or “secretary” in the business vernacular of the time for Chance Vaught while Eddie continued pursuing his degree in Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M.  Eddie graduated in May 1957 and he and Kaye moved to Beeville, TX where Eddie began woking for Hunt Oil Company on the Gulf Coast of Texas.  Kaye settled into caring for their first child, son David, born in August of 1957. Daughter Cathy was born there in November, 1959. As a young mother building a home Kaye was known at the local Air Force Base for her phone calls to the public relations officer with requests to “Stop flying those darn jets over her house. They are waking her babies!”

Son Curtis was born in Rockport, TX in September, 1964. The family moved one more time to Tyler, TX. Kaye made the difficult decision to transport her small family far away to Denver, Colorado in 1967; a place she claimed, “looks like the surface of the moon” in April compared to her green and verdant Dallas. Kaye and Corky built a wonderful life for their maturing family in Denver. As time permitted Kaye developed her love for fashion design and art into a devotion to painting. She filled her home with color and canvases of southwestern and seascape themes and people.  Kaye actively participated in the educations of her children making sure they developed an appreciation for art, theater, music, and history. She and Corky both believed it was important to understand why things are the way they are. Kaye knew in her bones that music spoke to all of us and we could not help but hear it. Kaye loved classical music and smooth jazz and she was also very fond of performances by Harry Belafonte. Rock and roll claimed a special place in her heart and, as Kaye would remind you, lest you forget, Elvis is the king.

In memory of Kaye any donations should be made to your charity of choice.  With so many thanks from our family, Kaye, our family matriarch, was dearly loved and respected. We will miss her.

Services will be held on Thursday October 15, 2020, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon at Horan and McConaty Family Chapel, 5303 E County Line Rd, Centennial, Colorado, 80122.

There will not be a reception following the service.