Shelby Joyce Henson

Shelby Joyce Prince was born in Blairsville, GA on March 1, 1941 to Reba Tanner Prince of Union County, GA and James Earl Prince of Fannin County, GA. After the death of her father in WWII, she and her mother moved to Birmingham, AL, where her mother married Charles Burch. She has two sisters, Patricia Musso and Sheryl Linnert. She spent a lot of her early life in Birmingham, AL, and spent most summers in Morganton, GA and Blairsville with the Princes and Tanners. She married Jimmy Henson, of Blairsville, GA in 1959. They were married for 44 years until Jimmy's death in 2003. They had 2 daughters and a son-in-law: JaNene Gray, Jennifer and Gary Leonhard, and 2 sons and daughters-in-law, Jason and Amy Henson and Jared and Helen Henson, 7 grandsons and 1 granddaughter: John Snow, III and Jaimeson Snow, Jordyn Howard, Alex and Will Henson, Nathan, Lydia and Micah Henson and 2 great-granddaughters: Madison Snow and Sereniti Howard.

For many years Joyce and Jimmy owned and operated a General Store on the Murphy Highway and Joyce later operated Henson's T's in town. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Blairsville, where she was involved in many ministries, including the Royal Ambassadors, Girls in Action, and the Women's Missionary Union. She selflessly devoted herself to caring for her family and friends, visiting shut-ins, widows, those in the nursing home all of her life, and anyone in need. She believed she was put on earth to help others and joyfully gave to others as much as she was able.


Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, July 6, 2013 from First Baptist Church of Blairsville with Rev. Danny Parris officiating. The body will lie in-state at the church from 1 p.m. until the service hour. Special music will be presented by Pat Morales and Eric Purser. Interment will follow at Ebenezer Baptist Church Cemetery. The following gentlemen have been selected to serve as pallbearers: Nathan Dixon, Matt Wynn, Derek Stephens, Bob Barnette, Jamey Mull and Brian Bell. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Friday evening from 6 until 9 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a memorial scholarship fund set up by Joyce in honor of her grandson, Jaimeson Snow. This scholarship provides assistance to graduating high school students as they enter college. Donations can be sent to First Baptist Church of Blairsville, designating that it should go to the scholarship fund: FBC Blairsville, P.O. Box 2058 Blairsville, GA 30514

Cochran Funeral Home of Blairsville in charge of arrangements.