Richard Henshaw Dead at Age 44
Episcopal News Service. July 10, 1990 [90182]
Richard Henshaw, who served as interim managing editor of the Diocesan Press Service in 1988, died in his sleep in Rochester, New York, on June 22 at the age of 44.
Sources at the Diocese of Rochester, where Henshaw served as communications officer and editor of the diocesan newspaper, said the cause of death was probably a blood clot resulting from a recent stroke. The death came as a surprise, since he seemed to be recovering.
Funeral services were on June 27 at St. Paul's Church in Rochester with Bishop William Burrill presiding. The Rev. Robert Wainwright of St. Paul's Church, called Henshaw a Renaissance man who regarded himself as a "Christian citizen of the world," who valued "all periods and cultures."
Wainwright, who was Henshaw's rector, called him a "Rite 1 person" who planned his own funeral service. "He was a great admirer of Cranmer" and was "a church person in his very bones," Wainwright said in his eulogy. He also had strong feelings about what was correct and had "strongly held values," yet he also believed that "everything had its own value and integrity." Therefore he was strongly opposed to what he regarded as a temptation to "homogenize" culture.
Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning sent a message that was read at the service, lauding Henshaw's "keen eye, ready wit, and just the right word of the professional journalist." Henshaw traveled with the presiding bishop during a 1987 trip to China and the Philippines.
Browning said it was Henshaw's "faithfulness to his work, his church, and his Lord" that led him to "guide our news department through a time of transition, even though that meant a personal sacrifice in being away from his family," his wife, Grace, and son, Sebastian. "For that wonderful offering we are all grateful to Richard."