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MissBuffDiver

007 Don Henderson in Hospice Care

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11-22-10 Don was moved to Golden Living Center in Fresno, CA. He is in room 226. Phone 1-559-466-4433. He has been taken off fluids and is expected to pass in 7-10 days. If you don't know Don, he's #7 in the worlds first 8-man on 10-17-65. Earlier this yr we lost #5 Bill Stage. Don was also in the 1st 4 and 6-man. He suffered a stroke on 9-30 and a 2nd stroke on 11-15. He's truly a pioneer of our sport. To read more about the SCR awards, go to www.starcrestawards.com this is some really good reading, for those of you that don't know the origin of the 1st 8-man. Well, I'm really sad as are many of us who have known 007 for 40+yrs. You can try to see him one more time if you are near Fresno, Ca. I'm gonna eat some Turkey for him tomorrow like he asked me too. Some pumpkin pie and a glass of chocolate milk (his favorite). 35 yrs ago when my little girls saw Don coming up the driveway in his van, they'd yell, "hide the chocolate milk Mama, Dons here." Love this guy, like many of you do...:(
Sandy

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I met Don at one of the Old Farts SCR meets 15 years ago. He was a great guy then and I really enjoyed BSing with him.
After jumping that first nite he brought out his old reel projector and films that dated from when I was in elementary school.
Here I am in this little room with all these old white headed guys around me watching film from when they were young , with the slick back hair , ducktails and the like. I was overwhelmed to be among them and told Don this. He put his arm on my shoulder and said dont sweat it we were the same as you we just got here first.
I have a photo he gave me of the first 8way and it is a treasure in my album.
Go easy , Don.


bozo
Pain is fleeting. Glory lasts forever. Chicks dig scars.

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Thanks Sandy,
I talked with Don over the phone the first of the month. Don was the same as I always remember him over the past 45 years. Don said he was dragging his leg a little so we agreed to have a foot race down the Taft runway when we next meet. He said the only problem was, with both of us having one bad wheel each, when we start we might both go off in two different directions.

Hell, 1 1/2 years ago he was full of life and jumping at one of our Taft reunions.

Every time I think of Don I smile.

Regards,
Dennis

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I met Don one time, years ago...he looked a lot like a guy I jumped with in the Midwest during the 70's.


As we shook hands I said, "I think I know you..."

Don said~

"I don't think we've ever met before, but I'm sure we're friends"






~I think that's one of the coolest things anyone has ever said to me.










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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Thanks Miss B.,

I arrived at Arvin in 1964 with a handfull of jumps. This was a few weeks after the 6-man. Outside of a few casual remarks by Buquor and Stage, Don was the only other person who taught me anything about relative work. One day I asked him a question and he climbed up on a packing table and demonstrated his radical frog and some closing techniques. That was a very generous thing to do at a time and place where you could cut the competitive atmosphere with a knife. A few months later we were in the 8-man together.

One time in the late-eighties Don and I were riding motorcycles on Palos Verdes and he pulled over near some cliffs overlooking a tree-lined cove. We walked over to watch the seagulls hanging in the lift. Don told me that he used to come there early in his jumping career to study the gulls for tips on relative work.

Later that same day on Palos Verdes, he showed me where the "chickie run" scene from Rebel Without A Cause was filmed. After I showed interest in Dean and the movie, Don took me to the Los Angeles alley where the "Rebel" scenes between Dean and Nataile Wood were done. It turns out Don was hiding on a garage roof, those days in 1955, watching the proceedings and the director had to keep chasing "that kid" away because he was getting in the shots. IIRC Don wound up working for the studios in the "60s.

Al Paradowski
SCR-2
Quote

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B|WOW.....SCR #2 checks in....I'm impressed. I was trying to figure out who besides Bill Stage has passed. I know Brian Williams, Bill Newell, Mitch Poteet and Don are still here. I don't know about Gary Young or Jim Dann. Can you give me an update on Gary and Jim? Help....***Inquiring minds want to know!!!!
Sandy

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;)Yep, that's our Donnie. If you said even 1 word to him, you were his friend. That is a rare quality. If I had a dollar for each friend he has, I'd be rich. He is rich beyond belief with friends...So glad you got to meet him. I know you will never forget this little guy with the BIG personality and a heart to match...To know him, is to love him...*** Who said bigger is better? Big things come in small packages..
Sandy

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Here ya go Sandy,

Gary Young, SCR#1 still lives in the North West. Gary's Dad was a pilot for us at Taft in the late 60's.
I think Jim Dann, SCR#6 lives in the West.
Both Gary and Jim attended a reunion held at Taft 1 1/2 years ago. Don also attended and jumped during the reunion. Bill Stage also attended that reunion.

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Hi Sandy,

Thanks for being interested in the "old days." You've got three times more jumps than I do and I bet you have better stories than mine too. I'd like to hear some of yours if you care to share; after all, if we can't do that on this site, where else can we do it.

To answer your question, I never got to know Gary Young that well and so we didn't keep in touch. The last time I saw Gary was at the twenty year 8-man reunion that Bill Newell put together in 1985.

I was roommates with Jim Dann throughout the Arvin and Old River days, even into the "County Dump" period out of Bakersfield Airport so you'd think I'd have more info on Jim than SCR-216 just provided, but that's not the case. I believe MJOSPARKY posted something about Jim a while back. Probably the best source would be Bill Newell since he's the focal point of SCR and I would think he'd be tapped into the "grapevine." I believe Bill's email address is on the SCR site.

The last time I saw Jim Dann was in the late-eighties when I organized a Saturday night jam session at Bill Newell's in Bake. Don Henderson and I rode our bikes up from LA. Don brought his baritone ukelele and I had my bongos. We met Jim at the Travelers Restaurant in Greenfield where we used to eat when Arvin was alive. Jim was riding a pan head he was restoring. We went over to Bill's and, if you've ever been to any of Bill's houses, you know he always has a room dedicated to music with a complete sound system and at least eight conga drums. Bill got me hooked on Latin percussion on the first night I ever spent in Arvin, but that's another story.

So we get to singing, playing and recording any of the old tunes from the '60s we could remember. Jim was on lead guitar and vocals, Don on baritone uke, Bill on congas and I played bongos. The high point of the evening was when Don performed his "term project" from a college course in songwriting he had recently earned an "A" in. He not only managed to incorporate every single point that his professor had taught about modern songwriting but also conspicuously included them in the lyrics just to make sure that nobody could miss that fact. As you know, Don has a great sense of humor and a dynamite singing voice. I know that Bill recorded it because after Don did it once, I asked him to do it again and made sure that Bill was rolling tape.

Thanks again Sandy,
Al Paradowski
SCR-2

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Thanks Dennis...I found out that Jim Dann lives in Palm Desert, CA with Donna Wardean....Dons son Barry has arrived to see Don @ the hosp. He has a little surprise visitor with him. Dons great-grand son. Don has 3 grandkids and 3 great grandkids. As of 11-28, Don is resting, he is unable to open his eyes, but can give hand gestures and a thumbs up. He has not received any food or fluid since 11-23. I don't know how much longer our little buddy will hang in there, but I hope it's at least long enough for Barry to have a decent visit. These past few weeks have been very sad. I spoke to Bill Deli on 11-28, he was getting ready to go to the Church for the funeral services for his wife Peggy, who died on 11-24, after a long battle with Cancer...
Sandy

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