IL SR1384

William T. "Bill" Henderson of Urbana passed away on June 11, 2020, and the Illinois Senate mourns his death.

Born October 5, 1929, Henderson graduated from Ridge Farm High School and the University of Illinois with a degree in floriculture, then served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army's Quartermaster Corps.

Henderson earned a Master of Divinity from McCormick Seminary and a master's degree in library science from the University of Chicago, serving as an ordained minister and the seminary's first acquisitions librarian.

Henderson joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faculty in 1965 as a pioneer in library preservation, teaching and organizing conferences with his wife Kathryn, and received the Graduate School of Library and Information Science Distinguished Service Award in 2011.

Henderson was survived by his wife of 67 years, Kathryn, along with several nieces and a nephew, and was a member of St. Peter's United Church of Christ and various library and agricultural organizations.