Carole Elizabeth Lacey Henderson passed away peacefully at Schervier Pavillion on Feb. 17, 2026, after battling dementia for several years. She was surrounded by love, laughter, family and music.
Born Nov. 26, 1932, in Harlem to Annette and John Lacey and older sister Constance McCall, Carole was a pistol from day one. She eschewed the ladylike demands of the time and preferred to hang out with the boys, roller-skating down the middle of Lenox Avenue, sneaking off to the movie theater, playing “loadie” in the alleys and jumping from rooftop to rooftop in daring feats of adventure. She tolerated being a debutante as a teen, but much preferred to spend her time walking with friends, babysitting, listening to music or talking to her sister.
One of those boys she used to play with as a child was Robert “Jack” Henderson, whom she initially could not stand due to his constant picking on her. After serving in the Merchant Marines, Jack returned to Harlem and reunited with Carole, who had a new appreciation for how much he had grown up. They married in August 1954 and remained together for 50 years until his death in 2004.
Carole was a devoted mother who took great interest in the lives of her children, Robin Henderson Matthews, Rene Henderson Morris (predeceased) and Robert “Bobby” Henderson Jr.
After leaving Harlem in 1964, Carole, Jack and the children settled down in Greenwood Lake, where she would meet lifelong friends and experience some of the best years of her life. Summers were spent on the lake, and when the children went to school, she would gather with her friends to play cards, chain-smoke cigarettes, drink endless cups of coffee and make dinner while cursing like a sailor and filling every room with her infectious laughter. When Robin, Rene and Bobby joined The Lakers, Carole “Nana Poo” became a devoted drum corps mother to all, patching uniforms, traveling for parades and caring for equipment. She always referred to any Laker as “her kid,” even when they became parents and grandparents themselves.
She loved horror movies and took great delight in traumatizing entire generations of children by always having one on in the background when they visited. Her seven grandchildren: Cory, Danielle, Luke, Christian, Kea, Jordan and Chandler count among her earliest viewing victims, but she kept a little in the tank to scare her niece Glenda McCall Pugh, nephews Kenneth McCall and Kirk McCall, eight great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
Carole and Jack moved “over the mountain” to Warwick shortly before they retired. Their retirement wouldn’t last long; they became the guardians of Cory and Danielle, and Carole decided to work outside of the home for the first time since she became a mother. She took a job in catering at the Greenbriar Room in Mount Alverno, eventually moving to the switchboard and ending her career at the front desk of Schervier Pavillion.
She loved video games and constantly slipped Cory and Dani’s Nintendo Gameboys into her purse to play on her breaks.
She was an impatient woman and frequently answered the phone by asking the caller “What do you want?” before breaking out into her trademark infectious laughter. It was at Mount Alverno where she would meet some of her dearest friends and co-workers, including adopted daughter and family friend Deneen Vines-Stanley. Many of the people she worked with became her caretakers at the end of her life, for which her family is entirely grateful.
Carole is survived by her children, Robin Henderson Matthews and Robert “Bobby” Henderson Jr., her sister Constance (Glen) McCall, her grandchildren, several great-grandchildren, one great-great grandchild, her niece, her nephew and several cousins. She is predeceased by her husband Robert “Jack” Henderson (2004) and her daughter Rene Henderson Morris (2020).
Carole was the beating heart of her large family. She gave mostly terrible advice, had the greatest sense of humor and she will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
Memorial visitation was held Feb. 24 at Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home, 17 Oakland Ave., Warwick.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dementia Society of America (www.dementiasociety.charityproud.org).
Funeral arrangements were made by Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home. To send an online condolence, visit www.lsvpmemorialhome.com