Johnnie Henderson

Forney ISD Family Remembers Mr. Johnnie Henderson

Larry Coker
Director of Communications, FISD

June 23, 2009

On Friday, June 20, 2009, the Forney Independent School District lost a member of its family when Mr. Johnnie Henderson, Sr. passed away. Mr. Henderson was an integral part of Forney ISD serving the students and the district as a teacher, coach and superintendent of schools.

Mr. Henderson graduated from Winnsboro High School in Winnsboro, Texas, entered the Army and served in the 99th Infantry Division in Europe from 1945 to 1946. He was awarded the Purple Heart and two battle stars during his year of service. After serving in W.W. II, he entered East Texas State Teachers College (now Texas A&M University in Commerce) where he earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees.

Mr. Henderson began his teaching career at Avery ISD in Avery, Texas where he was a teacher and principal in the elementary school and a teacher and coach at Avery High School. He later did post-graduate work in advanced math at Dennison University in Ohio and Fort Hays University in Kansas. His professional career in education spanned 45 years, 17 in the Forney ISD as a teacher, coach and superintendent of schools. He was also a teacher, coach and administrator at Rylie, Royse City, Stephenville, Highland Park and at the First Baptist Academy in Dallas, Texas.

During his nine year tenure as Superintendent of Schools for Forney ISD, a school bond was passed to build a new high school, new programs were added in all schools and he returned the district to full-accredited status. When the district built a new elementary school in 2003, the school district and community dedicated and named the school in honor of Mr. Henderson and his wife, Evelyn, who also taught in Forney ISD for 12 years.

His career in coaching included football, boys and girls basketball, track, baseball, golf and boxing. During his eight years as a football coach in Forney, he logged a record of 78-15-1 and won seven district championships, five bi-district championships, three regional championships and one quarterfinal championship.

After retiring from public education, Mr. Henderson became the Superintendent of the First Baptist Academy in Dallas for seven years before retiring and serving as the Director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools of Texas for six years. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Forney Education Leadership Foundation.

In 1996, Mr. Henderson was awarded the honor of the Forney Citizen of the Year and in 2001 he was inducted into the Forney Alumni Hall of Honor. He was also voted an Outstanding Alumni Emeritus Coach of Texas A&M University in Commerce.

Mr. Henderson dedicated his life to education and to helping students learn and grow and prepare themselves to become young adults. He made a tremendous impact on Forney ISD and in the community of Forney as a whole.