Louis Henschel

Louis Edward (“Eddie”) Henschel was born in Santa Monica, CA on October 30, 1944, the third child of Al and Mary Henschel. He attended St. Mark School in Venice. There as a sixth-grader, he first met his future wife Margaret, the younger sister of a classmate, when she was in third grade. After graduating Saint Monica High School in Santa Monica, he attended Santa Monica College until being deployed by the U.S. Navy to Vietnam twice: once on the USS Bainbridge and once on the USS Kretchmer. After leaving active duty, he became a letter carrier, and served as a “mailman” for 35 years, until retiring in 1999.
Louis and Margaret reconnected as Teen Ministry volunteers at St. Mark Church, and were married on May 6, 1972. Their daughters, Beth and Rose, were born in St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, the same hospital where Louis had been born. In 1976, Louis moved his family to Simi Valley, where his son Thomas was born. The Chevrezes and Colliers lived in the houses on either side of the Henschel home, and the families became lifelong friends. The children of all three families keep in touch to this day.
Louis and Margaret remained active in Church work their entire marriage, and taught several classes at St. Rose of Lima in Simi Valley where their children attended the parish school. In 1994, the Henschels moved to Newbury Park and enrolled in St. Julie Billiart Parish. Louis was ordained a Catholic Deacon in 2000, and served as a parish deacon at St. Julie’s and in several city charities, until his retirement in 2014. Louis and Margaret then moved to Riverside to be closer to family.
Louis died peacefully in his sleep on May 14, 2020 at the Pacifica Senior Care Center in Riverside after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He leaves behind Margaret, his wife of 48 years; children Beth, Rose Killion (Travis), Thomas (Julia), “second son” Cameron Chevrez (Autumn); and grandchildren Blake, Brianna, Beatriz, Cesar, and Lilyana.