Zella Lee HENNEKE

Enid News and Eagle Enid, Garfield Co., OK

01-18-2009

Submitted by: Jo Aguirre

A graveside service for Zella Lee Henneke, age 91, will be 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 19, 2009, at Memorial Park Cemetery Garden Chapel. Rev. Jeff Jackson will officiate. Arrangements are under the direction of Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home. Zella passed away Jan. 15, 2009. She was born April 16, 1917, on a farm near Drummond, OK, to Clyde and Jessie (Long) Peterman.

Zella's early years were spent on the family farm where many good memories were made that lasted all of her life. She especially enjoyed reminiscing about her maternal Grandma Henthorne, who was a small energetic woman who smoked a pipe and had made the run into the Cherokee Strip, along with her husband, Ery Peter-man. Zella's grandparents also staked a claim in the Cherokee Strip run. Zella went to school in the Drummond school system and attended Northwestern Oklahoma College in Alva for one year.

On May 12, 1935, Zella married Frank (Bill) Henneke. They farmed together for many years, sharing both the work and the fun. Zella worked in the field, handled machinery, and milked cows by hand. In addition to the field work, she cooked many meals for large groups of men, taking full course meals to the fields.

In 1942, Bill and Zella bought a farm northwest of Hennessey, where they lived until 1976. For many years they would travel south to Port Isabel, TX, during the winter months to enjoy the fishing and the warm winters. They entertained many Oklaho-ma friends during those wonderful winters in south Texas. After they retired in 1976, they traveled full time with their pickup and 5th wheel RV, spending their winters in Port Isabel and traveling the northern states in the summer. They spent several summers in Baudette, MN, on Lake of the Woods, but finally selected Gunnison, CO, as their summer home.

In 1990 they built a new home in Enid, OK, and began to live there permanently. Zella was a devout Christian woman, and a member of the Salem United Methodist Church.

Zella was preceded in death by her husband, Frank, her parents, her brother, Bud Peterman and her sisters, Lewellen Noble, Lavern Ivan and Alma Ishmael.

She is survived by her son, Richard Henneke and wife, Barbara of Longmont, CO; grandchildren, James Henneke of Thor-ton, CO, Monte Henneke of Longmont and Michelle Henneke of Manitou Springs, CO; and one great-grandchild, Samantha Sparks of Colorado Springs, CO.