John L. Hensey

There is a school named John L. Hensey School, but the quiet-spoken man behind the school might surprise you.

John Lester Hensey was born on March 18, 1907, to Fred and Theresa (Sabine) Hensey. He developed a lifelong passion for animals on the family farm over the gritty field work. He graduated from Taylorville High School and then the University of Illinois with a Master's Degree in agricultural education. Before his graduation, Maroa High School hired him to be their next ag teacher.

In 1938, Hensey married Annalou McGuire. They completed their family with two children: Frederic and Cynda.  

After two years at Maroa, Hensey became an agriculture teacher at Drummer High School in his wife's hometown of Gibson City.

In their spare time the family also liked to raise show dogs.

In 1944, Hensey moved back to his hometown and alma mater to be the ag teacher at Taylorville High School. In 1947, he went to work for Morehouse & Wells in Decatur, Illinois.

John L. Hensey, teacher, gardener, and breeder of Champion Wolfhounds, settled in with his true love and dubbed it Hensey Hobby Farm, where not only Russian Wolfhounds were handraised, but Alpine goats.  The University of Illinois saw promise in this gentleman farmer and sent vegetable seeds so John could maintain a master's garden.  Sadly, that summer in 1947,  he had to put down his champion, Borzoi Adama Bolshoi, who, according to reports, had sired more champions and winners than any other stud in the United States.  And another blow, just before Christmas in 1949, John's mother passed away, but a glimmer of the future took seed.

In 1950,  John Hensey was hired as principal of the Hopewell-Sundoer school district, which is now District 50.  Under Hensey's tenure, the district saw tremendous Sunnyland expansion due to Caterpillar Tractor Company's meteoric growth. This required numerous building changes, including significant additions to Sundoer School and the construction and additions to Beverly Manor School.  As you might expect, students saw Hensey not just as a teacher or administrator; they viewed him as a nurturing part of their lives, similar to the gardens he tended.  That little glimmer of hope after his mother died would be realized upon his retirement.  He would build a little home on his father's farm in Christian County, where he could hunt mushrooms in the spring.  

On June 17, 1955,  Hensey died at his home after a short illness at the young age of 48.  Below he is pictured with his staff at the 1955 eighth grade graduation less than three weeks before he passed.

In November 1958, the John L. Hensey School was dedicated, with the community, his family, and friends in attendance. His successes were numerous: his efforts in solving the many problems that arose during Sunnyland's rapid expansion, his contribution to the world of Borzois, and his fostering generations of appreciative students.