Gordon Pullis Henderson
Born Feb. 22, 1925, in Kirkwood, MO
 
   
1948 - Gordon playing his dulcimer
He became a master builder of dulcimers
1978 - Gordon with Halloween pumpkin
and inspectors Pauline (left) and Alice
   
   
1980 - Gordon at work
He is painting an addition that he added onto
the back of the house himself.
1983 - Gordon and friend
The rabbit is named Cleveland, and was very bonded to Gordon.
He followed Gordon everywhere, hanging out for
hours with him in his woodshop.
   
   
Alice Henderson - 2010
Her official website
Gordon 1947 by Thad Suits
   
   
1980 - Halloween with Alice
With Alan Suits and model plane
   
   
Gordon ready to launch
Gordon (left) enjoying a Princeton party
   
   
Princeton Friend
Princeton Party
Gordon far left
   
   
Princeton 1942
Gordon (lying down)
from the St. Louis Globe Democrat
October 12, 1944
   
   
   
   
A Camping Trip about 1947
(Between WW II and Marriage)
Photos by Warner Schilling
   
Gordon with snake and McCawley Suits
(l to r) Warner Schilling, McCawley Suits
Gordon and Alan Suits
   
   
The Sea Scouts' Ford Model A truck
Alan on top (shirtless) Warner Schilling on front
and Gordon in the middle - about 1942
Mac, Alan and Jim Holsen
same camping trip about 1947
   
 

Chart of the Mississippi River
Our Sea Scout Base was at Camp Brereton
shown on the left just above Alton Pirates
Where we had many adventures and
great high school dates

   

Some Great Memories of Sailing
at the Sea Scout Base - Part 1
by Alan Suits

Four Incidents (of many) stand out in my memory of the Sea Scout Base

1.  We went up there on a double or triple date one night and my date was B. J. Cox. It was a clear night with a full moon and I still recall the moonlight shining on her in the back seat. She was wearing very short-shorts.   She was the most beautiful, delectable thing I had ever seen.

2.  I invited my parents up to the base to see a sailboat regatta.   We were all maneuvering our boats around the starting line hoping to cross it under sail on a starboard tack just as the gun went off.  (Strictly by the book.)  But the wind had died down just before the start.  "Bang went the gun" and the whole fleet began to drift slowly downstream,  The old Mississippi River took charge,  And that was the end of that race.  My Dad never let me forget that embarrassing incident.

3.  Someone, I think Jim Christman and a few others, took their dates one night to the base.  They were having a great time and not paying too much attention to sailing.  But the river current was particularly strong that night and before they realized it they had drifted downstream almost to the Alton Dam.  As a result they didn't get their dates back home until long after sunrise. Big trouble!

4.  I owned a red Model T Ford coupe.  After I finally got it running good, I drove it up to the base (some thirty miles). Everything was working OK.  But then the next morning we started playing a game of bumper tag.  Going around in circles and starting and stopping.  At one point I tried to ram her quickly into reverse while still going forward, and with a sudden clank! the transmission gave out. We had to tow the carcass all the way home.

   

Some Great Memories of Sailing
at the Sea Scout Base - Part 2
by Warner Schilling

The time you and I were sailing upriver in the sunlight with a number of
other ships ahead of us, and a sudden squall came down river, tipping over
each boat in turn. But we saw it coming, got our main down in time, and made
it back to base with the jib.

Our game of commando, when we raced across the river, beached, and ran to
the top of the bluff. First crew to reach the top won.

The time Jack Klossner, Jack Crow, and I sailed up river all day and that
night (each taking the helm in turn while the others slept), but the wind
was so light that the morning found us no farther than Grafton.

The time the Missouri flooded and reached the Mississippi through a number
of new channels, one of which was over the base. Klossner, Christman,
and I drove up in the truck with a canoe on top to rescue our boats. When
we could drive no farther, we took to the canoe. We would come to a piece of
the raging Missouri, paddle furiously across, then portage ankle-deep
through muddy fields until we came to another piece of the river, and take to
the canoe again. In due course, we reached the base only to find (I think)
that someone had already moored our boats safely to trees.

I also recall a number of sailing dates on the river, most of which are
associated with my constant and constantly failing courting of Patsy.

As for BJ, I still remember my shock when I saw her name posted on the
list of dead classmates when we went to that 50th reunion. She was a
person I had looked forward to seeing very much for a number of reasons,
including the fact that she was the first girl I really kissed.

 
   
   
Abt 1937 - Gordon and Alan
Beside the Washington Ave. home