Vernon Arlo Henderson, 85, of Irrigon, surrounded by his wife and children, died on Aug. 1, 2017 at the Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston.
He was born Nov 24, 1931 in Promise, Oregon to Vesper Ray and Maude (Taylor) Henderson. He was the youngest of 12 children. Arlo married Glenna Skelton on May 28, 1956 in Lewiston, Nez Perce, Idaho. After graduating from Wallowa High School he said, “he bummed around working a little here and there before he joined the Air Force.” He made a career of it but after climbing as high in rank as he could, he took his discharge from the Air Force but later joined the Army seeking that higher rank. He had many adventures in the military connected to his overseas deployments. After retiring from the military he worked as a millwright, packaging engineer and truck driver while living in Wallowa, Hermiston, and Milton- Freewater. Arlo had old fashioned values-the handshake was your word. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He loved flying, riding his horse, and gardening.
Arlo was preceded in death by his parents and siblings.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years: Glenna, children; Sandra (Mark) Pilling, Greg Henderson, and Cynthia (Marco Sr.) Mendoza; 9 grandchildren: Heather (Ryan), Melissa (Michael) Dozark, Everett (Jennifer) Pilling, Jacob Pilling, Jessica (Gary) Loayza, Forrest Mendoza, Marco (Zdenka) Mendoza Jr., Monique (Tyler) Raab, Dumenico (Mariaclaudia) Mendoza; 19 great grandchildren, numerous nieces, and nephews.
A graveside service will be held at the Wallowa Cemetery, Wallowa, Oregon at 1 p.m. on Saturday Aug. 5, 2017 with a potluck dinner following at Lion’s Park in Wallowa.
Please sign the online condolence book at burnsmortuaryhermiston.com.
Burns Mortuary of Hermiston is in care of arrangements.
