Barbara Foreman Henshaw

Barbara Foreman was born in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, on October 10, 1923. Her parents divorced when she was very young, and her mother died when Barbara was four. Raised by her loving grandparents, she lived in El Paso and San Antonio, Texas, and Ventura, California.

During World War II, Barbara met a handsome flight instructor from Tulsa, Oklahoma, named Nathaniel (Nat) Henshaw. Within months they were engaged and they were married on December 23, 1944.

When the war ended, they moved to Tulsa. Nat went to work with his father at Henshaw Lumber Company, phased into home building in the 1950s, and then began a fifty-year career as a land developer. In the 1970s, the Henshaws fell in love with skiing and fly-fishing, and subsequently had second homes in Colorado, first in Breckinridge then in Aspen.

Barbara and Nat had three children: Janine, Todd, and Blaine. In addition to the tasks of child-raising and home-making, Barbara became an active volunteer and board member of several charitable service and arts organizations. The Tulsa Boys Home, The Center for the Physically Limited, and The Tulsa Philharmonic were favorites. Into her eighties, she was a weekly volunteer at Planned Parenthood, Emergency Infant Services, Southminster Church, and the Schusterman-Benson library.

An advocate for life-long learning, Barbara, at age 47, decided to finish her college education. She enrolled at the University of Tulsa and graduated with a B.A. in English Literature four years later. For a number of years, she also took private lessons in French.

Barbara had always appreciated the visual arts, but, as she finished her college degree, she developed a passion for bronze sculpture. After serious study, she began to sculpt bronze busts of family members and friends. With some exposure came commissions, and, over a thirty-year span, she produced dozens of bronze "portraits." Her subjects include prominent figures in business, religion, politics, and the arts as well as family commemorations. Noted subjects were the film director George Cukor, House Speaker Carl Albert, Judge Royce Savage, business leader Don Reynolds, Tulsa Philharmonic conductors Franco Autori and Bernard Rubenstein, and Tulsa Ballet founders Roman Jasinski and Moscelyne Larkin.

Barbara was preceded in death by her husband, Nat, who passed away in 2004. She is survived by her daughter, Janine VanValkenburgh (and husband Kirk); and sons, Todd and Blaine. Her seven grandchildren are Parker VanValkenburgh (and wife Silvia), Claire VanValkenburgh, Adrienne Henshaw, Natalie Henshaw, Olivia Henshaw, Brittany Henshaw Martin (and husband Paul), and Chelsea Henshaw. She had one beloved great-grandson, Jack Martin. She is also survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Jim and Janice Henshaw; sister-in-law, Dolores Kinney; and sister-in-law, Jean Mahanay. She has three nieces and one nephew.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 21, at 11:00 AM at Southminster Presbyterian Church, 3500 South Peoria. Friends are contributing to the Tulsa City County Library, Tulsa Symphony, and The Center for Individuals with Physical Challenges.