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She was 90 years old and the mother of six children, Helen, Joyce, Douglas Jr., Rosalie, Kent and Richard; grandmother to 13 grandchildren, Mikey, Bobby, Daniel, Laura, Allison, Kelley, Ashley, Brianna, Clarissa, David, Jacob, Emily and Lianne and great-grandmother to Celia and Abby.
Born July 31, 1930 in Manhattan, Henrietta was the daughter of Cecilia Rose DeFex and William Pelcer. She was the eldest of seven children: Legia, Rosie, Billy, Carlos, Bobby and Helen. She married Douglas Arthur Kendall on May 28, 1955.
The married couple started a family and lived in New York City, Broomall, PA, Yonkers, NY and Burke Centre, VA where Henrietta lavished her love on her six children. In Yonkers, the family was a member of St. Barnabas Church.
After her divorce, she lived in Manassas, VA where Pepper, the dog she rescued, became her faithful companion.
While there she enjoyed expanding her community of friends with the neighbors she met.
Eventually she sold her home and moved into Emeritus assisted living; then moved to Willow Oaks and finished her days at the Birmingham Green Nursing home. In all her homes, she was on a mission to know and love those whom she had the joy to connect and communicate with.
Henrietta, or better known by family as “Queta” and later by many friends who called her “Henri", loved the art of conversation and learning about people through their stories.
She lived by the holy principle that all people are precious and all are to be loved; she blessed everyone she met. She loved to exchange life stories and know all she could of those fortunate enough to be in her circle. Henrietta never met a person she could not befriend or a friend she could not love; she never had a bad word to say about anyone — she was forever and always a kind soul.
Please join her friends and family in celebration of Henrietta at Colonial Funeral Home located at 201 Edwards Ferry Road, NE in Leesburg, VA on Wednesday, Sept. 9, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., for a viewing. Mass and funeral services will be at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church at 101 Oakcrest Manor Dr. in Leesburg VA at 10 a.m. on September 10, 2020. Burial service will follow at St. John Cemetery.
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