||| FROM JEAN HENIGSON |||
Steve Henigson, 1938-2025
Steve Henigson cared deeply about justice, examined issues critically, and was unhesitant in speaking up to defend his beliefs. He had a keen sense of humor, and his huge collection of books reflected a strong interest in history. His cousin, Jeff, described him as being “the kind of person who made people feel both challenged and seen. His observations could push you to rethink your assumptions, and yet you’d laugh together at the absurdity of everything.”
Steve was born in Merrick, a small, bucolic village on Long Island. His earliest memories were of the destructive hurricane of late 1938, and the attack on Pearl Harbor. His father was a manufacturing furrier from whom he gained an understanding of wise business practices and an appreciation for skillful craftsmanship. His mother played piano, and taught him to appreciate classical music and all the arts. His enjoyment of food and cooking came from his maternal grandmother, who always prepared special treats for him. And he credited his lifelong love for reading to a talented librarian at the Merrick public library.
Steve remembered their move to 308 West 104th Street in Manhattan when he was eight years old because on that day, the Army Air Force bomber crashed into the Empire State Building causing a monumental traffic jam, and as their car exited the Midtown Tunnel he learned some interesting new words from the traffic cop who was trying to straighten it all out. His parents soon divorced, and his mother remarried disastrously to a WWII medical doctor with PTSD. They moved to a spacious apartment-cum-medical office at 1749 Grand Concourse, in the Bronx. The doctor became abusive, including sexually toward Steve, and by his 16th year, he had become self-destructive and suicidal. He was sent away to boarding school, to get him away from his tormentor.
Until then, from fourth through eleventh grade Steve attended the Barnard School for Boys. He received a strong classical education there, and remembered the school very fondly. Living in the city, he enjoyed considerable independence and made full use of riding the subway. He especially loved spending days at the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the city’s parks.
As a teenager, Steve loved exploring the Hudson River Valley and hiking at Bear Mountain. In the summers he worked on dairy farms, enjoying the physical labor and quiet beauty of rural life. He learned to play banjo, and sang and played with an informal group of folk musicians in Washington Square. He was also a fan of Django Reinhardt’s jazz, and Bob Wills’ western swing.
Steve attended Bard college for a year, and then spent the summer living in Greenwich Village with “the girl who turned my life around.” After they parted as good friends, he decided it was time to leave New York behind.
He went to Los Angeles where he was welcomed by a new circle of friends, some of whom became substitute family. He worked at various jobs while attending art school and community college, and took paralegal courses. During that time, he taught himself leathersmithing, and opened a very successful leather shop in West Los Angeles.
While attending Los Angeles City College, Steve met his first wife, Lea Carasso. In 1965, they married and bought a home in Century City, and in 1977, their marvelous daughter Deborah was born.
After 20 years in his leather shop, Steve retired. But he later became partners with a friend as the industrial designer of a new metal fabrication business. They produced boxes for housing highly technical electronic equipment used in spacecraft, submarines, and large telescopes, and developed strong ties to many government procuring agencies.
At this time, Steve joined a tactical shooting group which met on private property in the desert area of LA County. Under the tutelage of one of its members, a talented former Marine corporal, he developed excellent competitive shooting skills. He won several trophies in southern California shooting competitions, and wrote gun gear reviews for prominent firearms magazines.
In the 1970s and ’80s, Steve volunteered to head his local Neighborhood Watch committee, gaining recognition and support from their Los Angeles City Council member. On weekend nights, he also helped the Los Angeles Police Department as a volunteer rooftop observer in Westwood Village.
Steve & Jean Henigson
Steve met his future wife, Jean, through her husband at that time, Garry Margolis. The two couples became family friends, and the year after Steve and Lea’s daughter Deborah was born, Jean and Garry’s son Ben was born. However, these first marriages were not the spousal matches that were meant to be, and a deep, abiding love developed between Steve and Jean. They maintained their love quietly until their children left for college. In 1998, after many years of waiting, they got married to one another. Shortly after that, they moved to Orcas Island where they fulfilled their dreams and the spark of romance in their relationship thrived.
On Orcas, Steve became active in community theatre, beginning with a role as a policeman in “The Threepenny Opera.” The camaraderie he found in the theatre community was especially meaningful to him. He loved attending the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival concerts, and helping as a volunteer. And for several years he was a volunteer art teacher for third- and fifth-grade students at the Orcas public school.
Moving to Orcas also reconnected Steve with his first cousin, Robert—both retired and living on the same “little paradise island.” Steve and Jean developed a wonderful family friendship with Robert and his wife, Phyllis, in a way that hadn’t been possible before.
Steve was a loving husband, father, and grandfather, and he was a good friend to those who knew him well. He will be greatly missed.
He died at home, fairly peacefully, on January 3rd. In words he wrote shortly before his death, “I sorrowfully leave behind my deeply beloved wife, Jean, and our two shared children, Deborah Henigson (husband Ben Levitt, and granddaughter Moylena), Ben Margolis (wife Jenny, and granddaughter Devin), all of whom have amazed me and given me tremendous joy.” He also leaves his Orcas cousins Phyllis and her son Jeff (wife Andréia and son Luca), his Orcas friends, and faraway friends and cousins who gave him abundant good memories.
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