Richard “Scotchy” Henderson, a longtime business leader and former Republican state senator from Hilo, died April 25. He was 97.
Born in Hilo on Dec. 20, 1928, Henderson was the son of a Scottish-American immigrant couple and second-generation certified public accountant, as well as a real estate agent. He graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu in 1946.
“He was coming into the office until the age of 95,” Henderson’s son, Richard “Ritchie” Henderson II told the Tribune-Herald on Tuesday. “It was about two years ago, I think, in October, that he needed to be on oxygen, so he decided he was going to move his office back up to the kitchen table.”
After earning a business degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School of Business, Scotchy Henderson returned to Hilo in 1951 and was hired by Realty Investment Corp., where he was mentored by the company’s president, then-territorial Sen. William Hardy “Doc” Hill.
Henderson became the company’s accountant and Hill’s trusted right hand, playing a crucial role in the founding and managing of much of Hilo’s business community, including Hilo Shopping Center, nine theaters, an insurance agency, a wireless phone company, multiple car dealerships, the former Comtec Cable Co., KPUA and KWXX-FM radio, and residential developments in Hilo and Puna.
When Hill became ill in the 1960s, Henderson “eventually bought out Doc and became the president of Realty Investment,” the umbrella corporation for all the businesses.
Hill, who had remained in the Senate after statehood in 1959, took the transition a step further, according to his son, calling then-Gov. John A. Burns and Senate President David C. McClung to communicate his vision for political succession.
“He said, ‘I want you guys to come up to Hilo, and I want you to appoint Scotchy Henderson to take my place. And if you don’t do that, I’m going to come down and die at the Senate, and you’re going to have to have a state funeral down there, and you’ll have to spend a lot of money,” Henderson II said. “That’s how Dad got into politics.”
Hill got his wish and Henderson was appointed to Hill’s Senate seat upon Hill’s death. He served 14 years overall, from 1970-’78 and 1981-’87. He was minority leader from 1983-’87.
Statehood had ushered in an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature, which continues to this day. The late senator told a University of 91直播 interviewer in 1988 that despite political differences, he found himself serving with “pretty smart people” in the Senate.
“At that time, there was, like, Nadao Yoshinaga and Sakae Takahashi, Donald Ching and Larry Kuriyama,” the senior Henderson said. “There were a whole bunch of people who were pretty smart individuals … people with substance and experience. Sakae Takahashi was an attorney, and of course, chairman of Central Pacific Bank. Nadao and John Ushijima were buddies in Italy during the second World War. They fought through Italy together. And Shadow Hirai, who was the clerk of the Senate was there with Ushijima and Yoshinaga. There was a camaraderie there.”
Over the decades, Henderson also supported and served in key roles with many nonprofit organizations on 91直播 Island. A very short list includes: chairman/trustee at Lyman Museum; treasurer of Big Island Substance Abuse Council; 91直播 Island Chamber of Commerce; and Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of 91直播.
Henderson was inducted into the Junior Achievement 91直播 Business Hall of Fame in 2011.
“He listened more than he spoke. He looked at doing the best for the best of the community,” Henderson II said. “He was a dedicated public servant. And when he did something, he did it with integrity and right-mindedness and for the interest of the community as a whole.”
In addition to his elder son, Henderson is survived by his wife of 75 years, Eleanor, daughters, Cathy Warren and Sandy (Jon) Jurevic, son David Henderson, seven grandchildren and nine great-grandsons.
No public services are currently planned, according to Ritchie Henderson, but memorial donations can be made to Lyman Museum and/or Big Island Substance Abuse Council.
Email John Burnett at john.burnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
