Sheila (Kelly) Henderson

BRISTOL, Vt. – Sheila Kelly Henderson, 81, passed peacefully at her home in Bristol, Vt. on Feb. 12, 2025. She had lived with Parkinsons since 2019.

She was born in Madison on March 22, 1943, to Stephen and Pearl (Reed) Kelly. She met her husband, David, at Madison High School and they graduated in 1961. She graduated from Maine Medical Nursing School in Portland in 1964. They married that same year and celebrated 60 years of marriage on June 6, 2024.

Sheila worked as an RN in Philadelphia, Pa. to support David through medical school. Their journey together brought them from Philadelphia, Pa. to Burlington, Vt., to North Dakota, and ultimately back to Vermont, moving to Bristol, Vt. in 1975 to raise their family and set up their medical practice from which they both retired in 2009. In retirement, she enjoyed traveling, camping, and most of all, her grandchildren.

Sheila was a caregiver at her very core. This was evident in her profession as a nurse, as a volunteer EMT on the Bristol Rescue Squad, as a sister, daughter, friend, mother, grandmother, and especially as a wife.

She was predeceased by her parents; her brothers Donald Kelly, Alva Reed and his wife Shirley, her sister, Joyce Estes, brothers-in-law, Leo Estes, Dennis Barron, Richard Saucier; and David’s parents, Harold and Lucille Henderson.

She is survived by her husband, David Henderson of Bristol; and her three children, Erin Henderson (Bryan Serinese) of Williston, Vt., Keely Henderson (Matt Germon) of Lincoln, Vt. and Tim Henderson (Jenny Endris Henderson) of Felt, Idaho; her six grandchildren, Hugo, Gus, and Maeve Serinese, Charlie and Noah Germon, and Henry Henderson; her two sisters, Carolee Barron and Gail Saucier of Madison; and her in-laws Jan Kelly and Tim and Linda Henderson; as well as many nieces and nephews.

We would like to thank Addison County Home Health and Hospice and Lisa Palmer for their care of Sheila and our family, and the community who reached out to support us during this difficult time, including members of the Bristol First Baptist Church of which she was a member for 50 years.

A celebration of Sheila’s life is planned for this summer.