Longtime Flagstaff resident John Joseph Henscheid, age 85, died Friday, April 18, 2008, after a long battle with lung disease.

Born in Muenster, Texas, on July 27, 1922, Mr. Henscheid served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper in WWII and was wounded at the time of the Normandy Invasion.

A longtime Flagstaff building contractor, he was involved in the original construction of the Greenlaw area in east Flagstaff. He continued in the contracting business as the owner of both Henscheid and 4-Star Construction Companies, as well as Navajo Lumber Company.

Mr. Henscheid was also a commercial pilot for Northland Aviation and enjoyed his charter flights introducing many folks to the beauty of the Grand Canyon area and Mexico.  In his retirement years, he enjoyed attending reunions
of the 508th Infantry of the 82nd Airborne; fishing at Lake Mead; countless games of Yahtzee with his eight
grandchildren and welcoming the arrivals of his 13 great-grandchildren.

Mr. Henscheid is survived by his wife of 60 years, Opal Henscheid; and children Patti Fouse of Southern Calif., Kenny of Flagstaff, and LuAnn Roberson of Scottsdale.

A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 22, at Norvel Owens Mortuary. Interment with military honors will follow at Calvary Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to RTA Hospice of Flagstaff.

(Courtesy of Richard Doyle)

Grave marker for John J. Henscheid in Calvary Cemetery, Flagstaff (Coconino county), Arizona.

John registered for the draft ca. 1942 and entered service in the Army at Oklahoma City, OK on 13 April 1943.

Pvt Henscheid, a member of Co I, was accidentally shot through the mouth by Joe Petry in a weapon cleaning accident while in a hangar at Folkingham waiting to leave for Normandy.

He was immediately evacuated to a hospital and did not return to the regiment.

On 13 August 1944, Pvt Henscheid arrived at LaGuardia Airport, NY, NY from Prestwick, Scotland aboard Air Transport Command, Plane No. 232940*

He was discharged on 3 February 1946.

* Aircraft 42-32940 was a Douglas C-54 Skymaster constructed by Douglas Aircraft Corporation at Santa Monica, CA..  It was sold to an unknown buyer as surplus following the war and changed hands between Capital Air Lines, Northeast Air Lines and Modern Air, and finally to Japan Air Lines, and registered as JA6003. 

During a domestic scheduled passenger flight,  JA6003 departed Fukuoka Airport, Japan and was destined for Tokyo-Haneda Airport. The DC-54 made a wheels-up landing at Osaka-Itami Airport and was written of as damaged beyond repair.