Sunday, April 20, 2008
John Joseph Henscheid
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) |
[courtesy of Cori Hoag]
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. |