Samuel Floyd “Sonny” Henderson passed from this life July 12, 2024. He was a big man who lived a big life.
Sonny was born at Headlee Hospital on March 5, 1938. A native Odessan from a pioneer ranching family, he was the grandson of Marvin F. and Lois Henderson. Marvin was 6’8” and began life as a Texas Ranger in 1906 before settling down on 4 Sections on the north edge of Crane County at Penwell and Highway 1601. His Grandfather taught him to always be trading and always pick up the check!
Sonny graduated from Odessa High School in 1956, where he was a standout member of the basketball team. They went to the State Tournament that year. He then graduated from TCU and SMU with degrees in Finance. While attending college, he was a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.
After working in Fort Worth as a stockbroker, his grandmother called him and said it was time for him to come home and take over the ranch. This was 1965 when he was just 25 years old. He would eventually buy the Bedford Ranch in Andrews County, KBar Ranch, Notrees Ranch, Connell C-Bar Ranch and Carlinville Ranch in Ector and Crane Counties, plus two ranches in South Texas. In total, he has operated over 100,000 acres during his lifetime. His next-door neighbor and rancher, Millard Eidson, was his friend and mentor, who always showed up when needed. In later years, Sonny passed along his own knowledge and friendship to his Ranch Managers Kevin Bennett and Herman Wells.
But ranching was not all he did! He was a businessman, banker, oilman, world traveler and owner and breeder of champion racehorses. Sonny had the vision for the original Water Wonderland which opened in 1980. He also owned part of two banks in Odessa.
Spending his whole life in Odessa, Sonny became friends with and worked alongside many of its most notable citizens. He grew up with Ray Stoker, Tom Rodman, Robert McKnight and Jan Brooks. Sonny was also a longtime member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church.
His true passion was horse racing. He bred and raced both Quarter horses and Thoroughbreds. Sonny added tremendous respect to his name in the racing world when he decided to purchase the thoroughbred stallion Rocket Bar. The stallion was owned by George Kaufman of California at the time. The $36,000 Kaufman paid for Rocket Bar turned into a windfall investment when he made the sale to Henderson et al for $360,000. Rocket Bar made an indelible mark on the racing industry. He sired Rocket Wrangler out of Go Galla Go by Go Man Go, and Rocket Wrangler sired the iconic Dash For Cash the direct lead-in to the immortal First DownDash.
Sonny was blessed with more than one of those once-in-a-lifetime dreams. There was also Goetta, a World Champion in 1964, who won the All-American Futurity in 1963;
Bartendress, foaled in 1980 she was a Champion Three-Year-Old Filly and earned $452,309 before retiring winning the New Mexico State Fair, the Shue Fly Futurities and the Rainbow Derby the following season; Watch A Native, won the Shue Fly and Kansas Derbies and was second in the Sun Country and Sunland Park Fall Futurities. He also helped, financially, to rebuild Ruidoso Downs and Sunland Park.
The biggest success came with Suddenbreakingnews. Sonny flew into Lexington to attend the Keeneland September Sale in his private plane and walked into the sale just minutes before they gave a countdown on a bay horse that Sonny called, “the sorriest-looking colt of all the ones I bought.” Suddenbreakingnews had firsts or seconds in all but one of his races and pulled off a very commendable 5th place finish at the 2016 Kentucky Derby where Sonny and his family were all in attendance!
Sonny was also concerned about the west Texas land and served as Chairman of Sandhills Soil and Water Conservation for 48 years. While in Africa, he was introduced to Lehman’s Love Grass. It thrives with very little rain and has more protein than our native grasses. Upon his return to west Texas, he helped develop a program to seed Lehman’s Love Grass, which involved root plowing and aerial seeding of pastureland. These are conservation measures that are continuing to this day.
Sonny was generous with his time and money. He was involved in various volunteer activities, serving on the board of Parker House Ranching Museum and was one of the founding members. Involvement in Art Philanthropy was also important. With the encouragement of Dick Gillham, he donated ‘Rusty’ the Bull, which was created by Joe Barrington, to the City of Odessa, located at Grant and 4th Street in downtown Odessa. He also helped fund ‘The Stragglers’ bronze sculpture at the corner of 42nd and JBS Parkway, which was created by Terrell O’Brian.
Sonny enjoyed going out on the town, loved going out with friends and had a laugh that could be heard over the crowd. Music and dancing were two of his favorite things! Every type of music from Sinatra to Foreigner. He loved to gamble, his grandmother said he would bet on a bug race. Gambling and playing cards were his favorite pastime, Blackjack and Gin, being his favorite. Being an avid and accomplished Gin player, for many years he played several times a week at the American Legion Hall. He loved to travel and had been on 5 continents, to include 2 African Safaris. While on those Safaris, he bagged the Big 5: Lion, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Cape Buffalo and Leopard.
Sonny met his wife Helen twice in his life. The first time when he was a kid, working round-up at her family’s ranch in about 1950. Next was 50 years later when she walked into his office to complete a USDA Ranching Survey. He said it was love at first sight.
Sonny is pre-deceased by his mother, Mildred Henderson Courville and daughter, SueAnn Henderson. He leaves behind his wife, Helen Henderson; daughters, Shannan Petropoulos and husband John; Rachel Moody and husband Josh; stepdaughters, Helen Jackson, Lyn Ice and Leslie McDaniel; and two grandchildren Alexandra Petropoulos and Skyler Henderson. We would like to thank his tireless caregivers Crystal Ortiz, Lupe Adams, Abby Lozano and Marti Maldonado for their devotion to Sonny.
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
5:00 - 7:00 pm (Central time)
Sunset Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Starts at 10:00 am (Central time)
Sunset Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home
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