Rodney Dexter Henrikson

Rodney Dexter Henrikson
November 7, 1935 – January 8, 2022

Rodney Dexter Henrikson, a former ‘townie’ of Abington, MA., died in his So.Chatham home on January 8, attended by loved ones. He fought a twenty-three year-long battle with cancer but lost the final skirmish. He was predeceased by his parents, Verner and Madeline Henrikson of Abington, brother Carl Henrikson and sister Donna Pappaceno. He leaves behind his ‘bride’ of sixty-four years, Allene Phyllis (Hoyt) Henrikson, son Eric Henrikson and wife Christine, daughter Brenda Ciotola and daughter Christa Prescott and husband Brad. He was beloved by his grandchildren; Danielle Darmetko, Christopher Darmetko, Benjamin Conine, Vanessa Conine, Victoria Conine, Dylan Larkin, and Rachel Henrikson, as well as cherished great-grandchildren Alexa Elliott, Emilia Darmetko and Nathan Darmetko and nephews, Brian Pappaceno and Michael Pappaceno.

Rod was a graduate of Abington schools and Bates College, class of 1957. He was the owner of Henrikson’s Dairy, Inc. Working with his family, he took a small local milk route to a thriving dairy-distribution business covering the South Shore and Cape Cod. During that period of time he served in multiple positions in town government, including chairman of the Board of Selectmen. He also served on the board of directors of the former Abington National Bank, was an active member of the First Baptist Church of North Abington and served as treasurer for twenty-five years.

In 1986, while leading a missionary work team sponsored by the First Baptist Church to La Romana, Dominican Republic, Rod observed the urgent need of health care for the Haitian sugar-cane workers and their families, whereupon he laid siege to the sugar-cane industry owners and finally was granted land for a ‘clinic’. Over the next twenty five years he worked with other dedicated leaders, skilled and unskilled construction workers, and medical teams from all over the United States. Today, the five story fully equipped El Buen Samaritan Hospital stands on the outskirts of La Romana, serving thousands of patients and providing income for hundreds of locals. The staff is augmented by volunteer medical and surgical teams from the U.S. Also, many small churches have been built in the bateys, schools supported and students sponsored by his and other North American work teams. Rod was honored when a school in one of the bateys, Escuela Primaria Rodney Henrikson, was named for him.

Rod enjoyed sailing on Chatham waters, with his family or other brave souls, on his cat boat, ‘Summer Breeze’; baking off a couple of loaves of homemade bread, and chugging around Chatham in his truck with his beloved ‘boss dog’, Surrey. When it is safe for folks to gather, a celebration of Rod’s well-lived life will be held in Abington. Donations in his memory may be made to Dana Farber Institute and, through the First Baptist Church of North Abington, designated to the support of a batey school in San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic.

Obituary lovingly written by the family of Rodney Henrikson