Hastings resident Ruby Myrtle Henderson, 83, passed away Sunday, May 17, 2020, at her home.

Memorial service will be planned and announced for a later date. DeWitt Funeral Home and Cremation Service is handling arrangements.

Memorials may be directed to her family for a later designation.

Ruby was born May 22, 1936, at the family’s farmhouse near North Star, Nebraska, the daughter of Louie and Gladys (Verplank) Freeland. She graduated from Palmer High School with the class of 1955 and attended a teletype school in Omaha, Nebraska. Ruby married Richard Henderson in St. Paul, Nebraska on October 16, 1955.

Ruby lived in many parts of the world due to Richard’s military services, Athens, Greece from 1959–1961, Enid, Oklahoma from 1961-1962, Ft. Walton Beach, FL from 1962-1964, Howard Air Force Base in Panama from 1965-1967, Duluth International Airport from 1967-1968, Grand Island, Nebraska from 1968-1969 to be closer to family while Richard went to Vietnam, and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan from 1969-1974. Following the military, with her husband they were church planters for the Church of the Nazarene, moving to Red Wing, Minnesota in 1974, Olathe, Kansas in 1976 and Kansas City, Missouri from 1977-1980 for Richard to attend Nazarene Theological Seminary. She served as a missionary in Napier, New Zealand in 1980 moving to Yates Center, Kansas in 1982 and settling in Hastings, Nebraska in 1987.

Through all her travels she supported her husband by taking care of their family. Ruby was a member of the Church of the Nazarene and Nazarene Missions International. She enjoyed painting, reading, and putting together puzzles.

Ruby is survived by her husband of 64 years, Richard Henderson of Hastings, NE; sons, Michael (Elaine) Henderson of Harvard, NE, David Henderson of Hastings, NE, and Mark (Elizabeth) Henderson of Topeka, KS; eleven grandchildren; thirteen great-grandchildren; sisters, Faye, Mable, Lois, Minnie, and Wanda; along with numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Euveda, Betty, Opal, and Shirley; and brothers, Rolland and Harold.