Alan Henderson
June 20, 1925-Sept. 13, 2014
Palo Alto, California
Submitted by Nancy Henderson Peterson

Alan Henderson, former mayor of Palo Alto, World War II veteran, accountant and business manager, died Sept. 13, 2014, of complications related to stroke. He was 89.

Paul Alan Henderson, known as Alan, was born in San Francisco on June 20, 1925. He lived in Burlingame with his parents and elder brother Richard until age 6, when his father's insurance company fell victim to the Depression. The family moved to Sacramento, where Alan's father joined his grandfather at Henderson's Delicatessen.

After graduating from C.K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento in 1943, Henderson entered Stanford University and was drafted into the Army a year later. He served in Okinawa in 1945 and was transferred to General MacArthur's headquarters in Tokyo in August 1946.

"We were the first Americans to appear in the city following the war," he wrote in an autobiography for family and friends. "I will always remember my walk down the Ginza. . . . The street was crowded with people, and I stood out like a sore thumb at 6'3"." In Tokyo, he volunteered at a Methodist orphanage and at a local school, and he sang in the chorus for several performances of Handel?s Messiah with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.

Henderson graduated from Stanford in 1949 with a B.A. in economics. He was a competitive high jumper and runner on the Stanford track team.

In 1950, he began working for the California Packing Company (Del Monte brand) in San Francisco. During his six years there as a systems analyst, Henderson also edited the company newspaper, played on the basketball team and wrote the script for a three-hour musical comedy about corporate life performed in a local high school auditorium.

Through a family friend, Henderson met his first wife, Patricia (Pat) Rom in San Francisco. They married in December 1950 and had two children, Nancy and Wayne. The family settled in Redwood City before moving to Palo Alto in 1955.

"I was determined that my children would attend Palo Alto schools and grow up in my favorite community," wrote Henderson in his autobiography.

In 1956, he joined Sunset Magazine & Books in Menlo Park as assistant comptroller. Then, in 1965, he joined a colleague to help establish a new publishing company, George Pfeiffer and Associates, whose publications included American West magazine. In 1968, Henderson became business manager of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, a think tank located on the Stanford campus, where he remained until retiring in 1992.

Henderson credits Pat for his entry into local politics. When the Association for a Balanced Community decided to develop a slate of candidates for the 1971 City Council election, Pat surprised him by obtaining enough signatures to submit his name. As a candidate, he was staunchly opposed to two major initiatives: a plan for extensive residential development in Palo Alto's foothills; and a plan to make Palo Alto a financial center by allowing high-rise office developments along University Avenue. He also had the business skills and experience to watch over city budgets and spending.

Henderson served on the City Council from 1971 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1981. He served as mayor from 1979 to 1981 as well as two terms as vice mayor.

After his marriage to Pat ended in divorce in 1977, Alan reconnected with Myrene Depew, whom he had first met in 1943 through family friends in Sacramento. They were married in 1978 and enjoyed involvement in local activities as well as several trips abroad before Myrene's death in 2001.

After his terms on the Palo Alto City Council, Henderson served as chairman of the Regional Water Quality Control Board (1982-1983), president of the Palo Alto Housing Corp. Board of Directors (1986-1989), and on the boards of several other organizations, including the Palo Alto Civic League, Palo Alto YMCA, Peninsula Conservation Center and Palo Alto Community Child Care. His 12 years as a board member of Avenidas included two years as president. He was a member of the Palo Alto Weekly Board of Contributors from 1994 to 1998.

In 1974, Henderson was named Palo Alto Citizen of the Year by the Palo Alto Civic League. He also received the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce Tall Tree Award in 1982, the YMCA Red Triangle Award in 1991, and the Avenidas Lifetimes of Achievement Award in 1999. In 2013, the City of Palo Alto, on behalf of Friends of the Palo Alto Parks, dedicated a bench in Baylands Nature Preserve to Henderson in honor of his service to the community.

As a City Council member, Henderson was instrumental in the rezoning of Stanfords' Coyote Hill property at Page Mill Road and Foothill Expressway to open space; the establishment of bicycle lanes in Palo Alto; the Open Space Ordinance limiting foothills development; establishing California's first city-subsidized child care program; developing a revised budget format for the city; establishing Palo Alto's 50-foot height limit; rezoning the Baylands as open space; and numerous other initiatives.

Henderson was an enthusiastic fan at Stanford football and basketball games for more than 50 years. In the 1960s, he worked as a spotter at football games and as assistant public address announcer at men's varsity basketball games.

In 2010, he moved from Palo Alto to Sequoias Portola Valley.

Henderson is survived by two children, Nancy Henderson (and husband Ivars) Peterson of Washington, D.C., and Wayne Alan Henderson of San Diego; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He is also survived by four step-children from his marriage to Myrene (John, David and Robert Murchison; and Deborah Murchison Florie), 11 step-grandchildren, and a step-great-grandchild.

Tags: veteran, business, public service