David Henkel

David Tilden Henkel, 86, entered into rest October 20, 2024. David was born March 29, 1938, in Waynesboro, Virginia, to Ralph David Henkel and Virginia Thompson Henkel.

When David was in elementary school, his father's work took the family to Camden, South Carolina, where David graduated from Camden High School in 1956. He was in the class of 1960 at Clemson University where he studied architecture and was on the collegiate tennis team. He was acknowledged to be a great tennis player, and he continued enjoying the game until shortly before his death. He was a familiar figure on the Bitsy Grant courts in Atlanta and made many friends in the Atlanta tennis community. David also enjoyed fishing, biking, and photography.

It was while at Clemson that David met Nancy Rabun, a Reidsville, Georgia, native who was attending Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. They were married on October 13,1961 a short time before David was called into the U. S. Air Force and was stationed in Spain in November of 1961. Nancy taught high school English in Atlanta during the time David was overseas. Upon returning to Atlanta after being honorably discharged from the Air Force, David worked for an architectural firm. He later had a career as a real estate broker. David devotedly cared for Nancy during a long battle with cancer. Nancy passed away on February 15, 1979.

David Henkel was a devout Christian and an active member of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta where he taught a Sunday school class for many years and was still teaching the class at the time of his death. He was predeceased by his parents and his wife, Nancy, and is survived by his daughter Susan Henkel Walker and her husband Scott Walker of Atlanta and by his daughter Ansley Henkel Brown and her husband Kent Brown of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Also surviving are three grandchildren: John Campbell Walker of Atlanta, Nancy Kate Walker of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Sallie Walker of Birmingham, Alabama.

For those who would like, a memorial donation can be made to First Baptist Church of Atlanta.

https://fba.onlinegiving.org/donate/login

Funeral service will be Thursday, October 31, 2024, at 1:00 PM at the First Baptist Church of Atlanta chapel, 4400 N. Peachtree Rd. Atlanta, GA 30338, with a reception immediately following. A graveside service will be Friday, November 01, 2024, at 2:00 PM Reidsville City Cemetery, 260 Smith Ave. Reidsville, GA 30453.

A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home, 2773 N. Decatur Rd. Decatur, GA 30033 is handling arrangements.