On Friday, May 19th, 2023, D. Ray Henderson of Tequesta, Florida passed away at the age of 84.

Ray is preceded in death by his wife, Donna Jean Henderson, and his son, Anthony R. Henderson.  He is survived by his son, Christopher T. Henderson and his grandson, Nicolas B. Henderson, in addition to several nieces, nephews and family members.

Ray was born in Rugby, Virginia.  He started his career path with Federal Express, training personnel for the first 60 cities where Federal Express would make deliveries.  In the 1970's Ray moved to Maryland and discovered his passion for aviation, while working for Omni Jet Trading in Washington, D.C.  He then moved to Florida in 1980 where he founded his own aircraft sales and leasing company, Aircraft Trading Center, which later became ATC Jets. Ray purchased an FBO at Fort Lauderdale Airport in 1986 known as ATC Jet Center which was a full service facility until 2000, when it was sold.  Ray was one of the founding directors of Independent Community Bank & Trust in 1997 until the successful sale of the bank in 2007.  In 2001, He went on to purchase a Part 135 air charter business at Stuart, Florida, Fair Wind Air Charter, with his son, Christopher, which remains in business to this day.

On Wednesday, September 8th, 2021, Donna Jean Henderson of Tequesta, Florida passed away at the age of 80.

Donna Jean is survived by her two sisters, Betty Henderson of Marion, VA and Cathy Jackson of Seven Mile
Ford, VA.

Donna Jean was born in Rugby, Virginia.  After her marriage to Ray, she was always by his side and shared his interests.  When the family moved to Florida in 1980, she worked with Ray to open and build the aircraft sales company, Aircraft Trading Center.  She became Senior Vice President and held staff meetings, managed the secretarial staff, held weekly sales meetings and was responsible for numerous aircraft transactions.

Donna Jean was passionate about cooking and baking. Both Ray and Donna Jean enjoyed spending time with family and friends with Donna Jean hosting many luncheons and dinners, preparing the dishes and desserts herself.  She loved going to church, working out and riding horses.

They will be greatly missed by everyone who knew them.

Burial will be held on August 19, 2023 at 1:00 PM at he Corinth Baptist Church Cemetery in Rugby, VA with the Rev. Dusty Reedy officiating.

The family requests no flowers please, but feel free to make a donation to the cemetery fund as this was very meaningful to Ray and Donna.