Granville Henderson

It is with great sadness that the family of Granville Henderson announces his death, after a long period of illness, on the 29th of January 2022, at UPMC St. Margaret Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Granville (fondly known as Granny to family, friends, and co-workers) was born in Cook County Hospital in Chicago, IL, May 9, 1943, to Evelyn Marie Henderson and Ben Moore, and spent his very early years in Chicago and other parts of Illinois. Largely raised in New Kensington by his mother and his stepfather, Rev. T.S. Henderson, from 1956 where he lived until his death, Granny graduated from New Kensington High School prior to enlisting in the Army in 1961, where he attained the rank of Sergeant (E5), and during which time he spent 13 months in the Korean combat theater of operations. Upon separating from the military, he matriculated at Wilberforce University, founded by the AME Church, and the nation’s oldest private HBCU. He was granted the B.S. degree in Business in 1968 by Wilberforce, and it was there that he met and married his wife, Elizabeth to whom he was married for 48 years.

Granny returned to New Kensington, after graduation from Wilberforce, with Elizabeth in 1969, and there the two remained, raising their two children—Rashida and Eric—to adulthood with families of their own.

Granny began his 30 years of employment as a Cost Analyst at H.J. Heinz. After his retirement and a year of working for Heinz as a consultant, he took up his much loved and appreciated work with Valley Lodge #294 in New Kensington and served as the organization’s Treasurer for many years.

An active member of St. James AME Church, Granny was both widely known and beloved by the community in which he spent almost the entirety of his life.

His personality made him the family favorite even among his siblings. For seven years following his birth, he was the youngest of five children and when he was just a toddler he was given the nickname “babe” by his brothers and sisters—although none of those siblings were more than five years older than he was. The nickname stuck for many years. Nonetheless, “babe” grew into a youth known to exercise a quiet kind of peace-making ability whether among contentious family members or battling friends.

As an adult, Granny was a man of quiet demeanor but fierce and dry humor. He enlivened work, numerous family and other social engagements, and even church events—generally from a seat in a corner, where he would entertain listeners of all ages with quietly and wittily delivered commentary on the events of the day, the people present and absent, TV, movies, music, and whatever the passing fancies of the moment might be. His commentary was often articulated in surgically precise cutting style when the subjects warranted it, and always left everyone within hearing guffawing, and generally with all questions and disputes settled.
Granny is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Henderson; his daughter Rashida Henderson; brother Thomas Henderson (Loretta) of Alexandria, VA; sister Wahneema Lubiano of Durham, NC; and brother Lother Henderson (Karen) of Tampa, FL.

Granny was preceded in death by his son Eric Henderson, his parents, Evelyn Henderson Freeman, Ben Moore, and Rev. T.S. Henderson, and by four of his siblings: Leonard Henderson, Lester Henderson, Phyllis Olivari, and Zoeain Henderson;

Granny’s descendants include numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.

The funeral will be held at R.J. Slater Funeral Home, 1000 Freeport Road, New Kensington, PA 15068. The viewing: Friday, February 4, 2022, from 5pm – 8pm, and Saturday, February 5, 2022, 10am – 11am. The service will begin immediately following the Saturday viewing hour.