Lillie Mary Henson was born in Glassy Mountain Township, S.C., near Tryon on September 12, 1916 to Augustus and Eliza Cantrell Henson. She died June 9, 2011.
After completing high school in Tryon, she took nurses training at Mission Memorial Hospital in Asheville, N.C., and became an R.N. in 1938.
She joined the Army Nurses Corps in September 1941, three months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her first assignment was at the Station Hospital at Camp Croft, S.C. From there, she and 11 other nurses volunteered to go to North Africa.
She was in the European Theatre of War from Oct. 1942 to Sept. 1944.
After discharge from the Army Nurse Corps in Dec. 1945 as a 1st Lieutenant, she worked as a nurse and earned a B.S. in nursing from Women’s College UNC at Greensboro and a B.S. in nursing education from Duke University.
Afterwards, beginning in 1957, she worked as a nurse and taught nursing at Veterans Hospitals in Asheville (Oteen): Hines, Ill.; Muskogee, Okla.; and Kerrville, Texas; until her retirement in 1979, when she moved to Landrum.
Wherever she lived, she loved the church, especially Landrum First Baptist, where she taught Sunday School and was active in WMU.
She served for years as a volunteer at St. Luke’s Hospital in Columbus.
She is survived by a brother, Albert Henson of Tryon, and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were held Sunday, June 12, 2011 at Petty Funeral Home, conducted by Rev. Andy Allen. Burial was in Landrum Cemetery with military honors.
Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of Landrum, 300 E. Rutherford St., Landrum, S.C. 29356 or to SRMC Hospice House, 686 Jeff Davis Drive, Spartanburg, S.C. 29303.
Condolences may be left at www.pettyfuneralhome.com.
Petty Funeral Home & Crematory, Landrum.