Vada Lou (Fyfe) Henderson

Vada Lou Fyfe Henderson

May 11, 1934 - April 26, 2026

Vada Lou Fyfe Henderson, 91 years young, passed on to heaven on Sunday, April 26, 2026. Born May 11, 1934 in Olive Hill, Kentucky, she was the youngest daughter of the late Roscoe and Sarah Elizabeth Birchfield Fyfe.

Vada, known as “TeeTee” to her many grandchildren, was an incredibly talented and visionary woman, a pioneer for women in business and in life. A trendsetter long before her time, she was placed in this world at just the right time for all of us.

She grew up in Carter County, attended Ross Chapel School on Bens Run, and graduated from Olive Hill High School. She earned her license in cosmetology at Morehead Beauty College in the mid-1960s and operated a beauty shop in Morehead, Kentucky, for several years. In the late 1970s, she attended mortuary school in Cincinnati and became a licensed funeral director and apprentice embalmer, working side by side with her husband, Les, at Leslie A. Henderson Funeral Home throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Following Les’s death in 1990, Vada continued to operate the funeral home independently until selling the business in 1994.

Vada served as a Carter County Deputy Coroner during the 1980s and was narrowly defeated in her bid for County Coroner in the early 1990s, following the death of her husband Les. She was the first female president of the Eastern Kentucky Funeral Directors Association, one of many ways she broke ground for the women who followed her.

Alongside her work in the funeral home, Vada was an independent business owner who owned and operated Personal Touch Beauty Salon for several years. With her irreverent sense of humor, she joked that she originally wanted to name the shop “Curl Up and Dye,” but thought better of it, given the funeral home next door. She was active in her national cosmetology organization, traveling to New York City annually for training, to Pennsylvania to learn the specialized Zwicki facial technique, and to New Mexico to study permanent cosmetics in the 1980s. Hers was one of the first beauty shops to partner with Aveda Cosmetics, back when it was a private company sold only in salons.

Vada was of the Christian faith and attended various churches in her community over the course of her lifetime. She was a member of the Olive Hill Order of the Eastern Star and the Ladies Oriental Shrine.

Vada loved to garden and could wield a hoe to kill a blacksnake in a flash. She enjoyed trips to the beach, riding horses, and deer hunting. In her later years, she found joy in learning to paint portraits and landscapes, and in crocheting little gifts for her great-grandchildren. She loved her family and friends fiercely and embodied the queen matriarch role to a tee. She has been described as loving, kind, feisty, stubborn, fun, and independent. A role model to all her loved ones, friends, and community.

She lived an amazing, full life, and all who know her are blessed.

Survivors

Vada is survived by her brother, Clayton (Ruth Ann) Fyfe of Olive Hill, KY; her three daughters, Pamela Jean (Jimmy) Adkins and Vanessa Lou (Mike) Lowe, both of Olive Hill, KY, and Leslyn Henderson (Johnnie) Spaulding of Lexington, KY.

She is also survived by 11 grandchildren: Wayne (Shawnda) Adkins of Olive Hill, KY; Brianna (Chris) Furst of Greenup, KY; Christopher (Keri) Lowe and Jeremy (Tina) Lowe of Olive Hill, KY; Kindra (George) Hein, Danielle (Travis) Franklin, and Chad (Jennifer) Duncan of Champaign, IL; and Isabella “Bella” Spaulding, Macey Henderson, Abigail Henderson, and Zachary Henderson, all of Lexington, KY.

Special daughters-in-law Amy Henderson of Lexington, KY, and Gina (Owen) Reeves of Champaign, IL; special grandson-in-love Anthony Evans of Pikeville, KY; 15 great-grandchildren; and 6 great-great-grandchildren. She also leaves behind numerous step-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, special friends, and all those she treated as family.

Preceded in Death

Vada was preceded in death by her parents; six of her siblings, Ruth Fyfe Binion, Wiley Fyfe, William Fyfe, Edna Fyfe Kiser, Nellie Ann Fyfe Blankenbeckler, and Jack Fyfe; her second husband, Leslie A. Henderson Sr.; her two sons, Gregory Ellis Duncan and Robert Nathan Henderson; her five stepsons, L.A. Henderson Jr., J.B. Henderson, Marty Henderson, Greg Henderson, and Brent Henderson; and her cherished granddaughter, Leslyn Elizabeth “Bizzy” Spaulding.

Services

Visitation will be held at Duvall and Moore Funeral Home in Olive Hill, KY, with her favorite young female funeral director and step-granddaughter, Lynn Henderson, on Thursday, April 30th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM (family hour at 5:00 PM).

Funeral services will be held at Duvall and Moore Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 149 Whitt Street, Olive Hill, KY 41164 on Friday, May 1st at 2:00 PM, with Bro Gary Sparks officiating. Interment will follow at the Henderson Circle in Olive Hill Memorial Cemetery.

Online condolences can be made at www.duvallandmoore.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Vada Lou (Fyfe) Henderson, please visit our floral store.