Mary J. Henn

Mary (Smith) Henn died on Wednesday, September 20, 2023. She passed peacefully, with her family by her side, surrounded by love. The second of four children, Mary was born on April 22, 1951, in Garden City, Michigan, and raised in neighboring Westland, Michigan. Mary graduated from John Glenn High School in 1969 and shortly after began her early career at Wayne Bank, where she met James “Dennis” Henn, her future husband. Dennis and Mary started dating in 1972 and after a brief courtship were married on May 26, 1973. They bought a house in Westland, where they created a wonderful community of lifelong friends. Dennis and Mary celebrated 50 years of marriage this year. To know Mary is to know her incredible love for children. Mary was a very involved parent and volunteered at Michael, Michelle, and Amber’s schools, in the PTA, and their extracurricular programs. Mary managed school craft fairs and the school bond program, made hot chocolate for the safety squad on cold mornings, and was a troop leader for the Girl Scouts. If something needed to be done for the kids, you could count on Mary to be involved. Once Amber started school, Mary began her career as a paraprofessional in the Wayne-Westland school district. While she found incredible joy in volunteering and working in schools, the birth of her first grandchild ignited a new love of children, unlike anything Mary had experienced before. Mary’s heart belonged to her three granddaughters, Ashley, Courtney, and Luci, and she took every opportunity to show friends and family photos and tell them how proud she was of their accomplishments. Mary was a talented quilter and crafter and enjoyed nothing more than playing cards with or spending hours drinking tea and talking with her neighbors and close friends, who became more like family. Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Martha (Wagers) and Peter Rimshas, her biological father Reeves Smith, her sister, Carol (Smith) Engler, and her brother, William “Bill” Rimshas. She is survived by her husband, Dennis Henn, her brother, John (Mary) Rimshas, her children, Michael (Rachel) Henn, Michelle (John) Gilliland, Amber (Keigh-Cee) Bell, her three granddaughters, Ashley Henn, Courtney Henn, Luci Bell, and many close, lifelong friends. Visitation services will be held at R.G. & G.R. Harris-Garden City, 31551 Ford Rd. Garden City, MI 48135 on Friday, September 22, 2023, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be held at the same location on Saturday, September 23, 2023, at 11 a.m. with a procession to Cadillac Memorial Gardens West, 34224 Ford Rd. Westland, MI 48185. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital at www.stjude.org. Please share a memory of Mary by signing her "Guest Book".