As I was preparing my weekly article for the Faith and Values page of The Press and Standard, the Lord placed it on my heart to pay homage for Women’s History Month to a woman of the Colleton County community who lived a simple life, but was giving and well-loved. She moved about with a quiet spirit and gave to her community subtlety, never looking for any kind of recognition. It is not always about the higher echelon of society, but about those who give of their service willingly with what little they have, straight from the heart. Although she did not have a complete formal education, she had a heart of gold and was gifted and talented in a number of ways. She was a self-taught baker and a singer!
Mrs. Henderson was born and raised in Walterboro to the late Reverend Mack and Mrs. Lela Florence Daniels Gelzer. She attended the public schools of Colleton County. One day she met and married the love of her life, Mr. Joseph Thomas of Denmark, South Carolina. They were the loving, devoted parents to three children: Sheryl Ann Thomas (deceased), Ervin Thomas, and Deborah Thomas Rhone (Caprest), and several grandchildren. The Thomas’ lived in Florida and New York and eventually relocated to Walterboro. Her husband Joseph went home to be with the Lord in November 1979. She later married Steven B. Henderson of Springtown, SC.
While residing in New York, Virginia worked at Kings County Hospital for a number of years. When she and her husband Joseph relocated to Walterboro, she was employed for a number of years as a cafeteria worker with the Colleton County School District. She loved to cook and shared her cooking talent with this community. In later years she was employed as a domestic worker in a few homes in Colleton County until her health began to decline.
Virginia loved to sing, and she shared that talent on her church choir and with a group, The Candlelight Marchers, to which she and her sister belonged. They would go all over Colleton County, even in Charleston County when they could, singing and telling stories from the Bible, and marching in various churches, entertaining the communities on Saturday nights in the name of the Lord. Other service that she gave to her church was membership on the Stewardess Board and the Usher Board, and she was a devout fundraiser. One of her favorite fundraisers was the sale of chicken dinners, a skill she acquired from her mother. Many in the community looked forward to her dinners, along with a delicious slice of cake! Although she grew up in Wesley United Methodist Church, she was always affiliated with a church, no matter where she lived.
Because she was an avid lover of music, she made sure that her oldest grandson, Barry Thomas Smalls, whom she helped to raise, was taught piano lessons. His teacher was Mrs. Lee Dean Cox, a former musician with Bethel United Methodist Church in Walterboro. Virginia did not stop there with her grandson’s training in music. She enrolled him in band classes. As a result, he was a member of the Walterboro High School Band of Blue, playing the mellophone. Always having such a genuine love for her family, she spent a considerable amount of time with her other grandchildren until her health declined: Caprest Rhone, E. J. Mack, Anthony Hightower, and Brittany Thomas.
Twenty-five years ago, on Saturday, March 13, 1999, The Gelzers received some devastating news that rocked our family and the community beyond compare. We found out that my aunt, Mrs. Virginia Gelzer Thomas Henderson, had been in a very serious car accident on Hwy. 15. My three sons were at the church with my parents at youth choir rehearsal. I was at the nail shop getting a manicure. I finally found out the news and sped to the hospital. I was met by one of our relatives on the front lawn of the hospital and was told the news that my aunt had passed away in this car accident; I just could not comprehend it and almost collapsed. The two women who were in the other car succumbed to their injuries as well. They were a mother and daughter, from the Way Family, and were our family’s cousins. People who knew and loved these three wonderful women gathered at Colleton Medical Center to grieve and support one another, on that “dark” Saturday afternoon, as if it had been a convention.
Mrs. Henderson was one of my mother’s sisters. She was a very sweet, beautiful woman who loved the Lord, her church, and her family. That was evident at her funeral service because it was beyond well attended, standing-room only, with an overflow in the church’s fellowship hall and outside. The remarks from those who participated on the service, especially the late Bro. McKinley Williams, spoke volumes about who she was. I will never forget Rev. Anthony Hodge’s eulogy for her, “She Died a Righteous One”! I composed and read a tribute to her, and it was easily done because of the life that I knew she lived. I always enjoyed going by her house to have great conversations, and of course, to get a sizable slice of one of her nicely baked cakes! Her specialties were red velvet, coconut, pound, jelly, chocolate-iced, and German chocolate. At her church she was frequently called “the cake lady”! She even designed and made wedding cakes for some Colleton couples. Her daughter’s wedding cake was one of those. The whole family, everyone in her church, and several in the community loved her cakes immensely!
We love and miss her so much. Aunt Virginia, you were one-of-a-kind, with a sincere heart of gold, and this community and your family will never forget you. Continue to sleep in peace in the bosom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
