Obituary of Mary Sue Henry

Memorial services for Mary Sue Henry, 81, of Lovington, NM will be held on Monday, July 15, 2019, at 2:00 pm at Trinity Baptist Church with Pastor Gary Chapman officiating. Mrs. Henry was born on November 4, 1937 in Roswell, NM to Harvey and Katie (Nichols) Blancet and passed away in Lovington on July 13, 2019. Arrangements are under the direction of Kirby-Smith-Rogers Funeral Home. Mary came to Lovington in 1948 and graduated from Lovington High School in 1956. She then married Bill Benham and they raised a family of three children. Mary did the cooking for the ranch cowboys. She was the chef for Hi-Lonesome Depot for many years until it burned one year on New Years Eve. During her years at Hi-Lonesome she met a lot of celebrities such as George Strait, Mo Bandy and others. In later years she met and then married Arnold Lee Henry in 1985. They lived in Roswell and then they moved back and forth between Artesia and Lovington for years. She was the Highway mail contractor making the mail delivery run from Artesia to Lovington for fourteen years. In 1988 she joined Trinity Baptist Church where she was an active, faithful member, always helping where she could. She collected crosses and loved to get nutcrackers during the Christmas season. She was saved in Lovington at First Baptist as a child and when the pastor went to tell her parents, they threw a shoe at him, so she was not baptized until later in life. Mary was an avid reader, liked doing crossword puzzles and enjoyed the reading group at the church and visiting friends. She loved dancing and "Teddy" her black cat of thirteen years. She also drove the Lovington Senior Citizen Bus to pick up seniors and take them to where they needed to be. She was a giving person and will be greatly missed. Preceding her in death were her parents and her son-in-law: Roger Dossey. Surviving her is her husband A.L. of the home; two sons: Harvey and wife Shane Benham of Brewster, KS and Joe Bob Henry of Hobbs, NM; three daughters: Susie and husband Robert Payne of Panhandle, TX Paula Dossey of Tatum, NM and Shawndell Henry of Hobbs, NM; eleven grandchildren; fourteen great-grandchildren and four great-great- grandchildren.