Rachel Ireland Henslee of Hereford, Texas, passed away on Saturday, October 19, 2024, in Dimmitt, Texas, at the blessed age of 100.

Rachel was born at home alongside her twin brother on August 17, 1924, in Hereford to Edgar S and Emily (Bell) Ireland. She attended school in Hereford and was active in Band and Choir, after High School she attended one year of college at Texas Tech. She married Donald D. Henslee on November 14, 1944. While Donald served in the US Navy, Rachel worked at the Prisoner of War Camp. From 1952 to 1964, Rachel and Donald and their three children, Don Richard Henslee, Martha Ann (Henslee) Rickman, and David Ireland Henslee, moved 13 times with 13 new homes, making Hereford their permanent home in 1964. Through the years Rachel worked as an insurance clerk at the Methodist Hospital in Lubbock, the Hereford Clinic, and the Deaf Smith County Hospital. She also worked as the secretary at the old Central School, as personnel director at Kings Manor, and as Deputy County Clerk. She was a member and elder of the Hereford Presbyterian Church.

Rachel enjoyed trips to the mountains, camping, and rock hunting. She enjoyed painting, reading, and dancing, and she was a bodacious cook. Rachel loved her family and always looked forward to family gatherings with all her children and grandchildren. She was a strong, determined, free-spirited, spontaneous, and funny woman, who loved a new joke and being able to share it with others despite forgetting a punch line or two in her later years. She faced every life challenge, adventure, and victory with love, grace, and strength.

Those left to cherish memories and carry on her legacy, are her three children, Don Richard Henslee and wife Merle of Waxahachie, Texas, Martha Ann Rickman of Hereford, Texas, and David Ireland Henslee and wife Vicki of Wichita Falls, Texas; seven grandchildren; twenty-one great-grandchildren; and ten great-great-grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her husband Donald D. Henslee, parents Edgar and Emily Ireland, brothers Ed Ireland, Woodrow Ireland, and her twin brother Richard Ireland, sister Elizabeth Holt, grandchildren Stacy Allen Rickman and Jennifer Henslee Hoole, great grandchildren Michael and Stephen Romo, great-great grandson Bradley Ortegon, son-in-law Johnny Rickman, and best friend Temple Hill.

A Memorial Service is scheduled for Saturday, November 9, 2024, at 10:30 A.M. at the Hereford Presbyterian Church with Pastor Sam White officiating. Arrangements and Cremation Services have been entrusted to Mendez and Mullins Family Funeral Home of Hereford.