Friends and relatives gathered Wednesday to pay their respects to longtime Zelienople community leader Bill Henderson as someone who loved his hometown.

He died June 4 in Florida at age 87.

He was a man deeply involved in many causes, including serving as a trustee for the Butler YMCA and serving as president and board member on the Southwest Butler County School Board for 16 years.

Henderson also was a member of the Harmony Lodge Masons and was deeply involved in his church, Calvin Presbyterian in Zelienople, his entire life.

The Rev. Graham Standish, who has been the pastor at Calvin Presbyterian since 1996, frequently worked with Henderson on a myriad of projects.

Standish called Henderson a “huge part” of the church for the past 80 years, serving on an assortment of committees and boards.

He chaired a $1.6 million renovation and expansion of the church in 2006, an organ replacement in 1960 and another reconstruction project in 1954.

“I said this in his eulogy, that it’s hard to look at any place in Calvin Church where Bill didn’t help spearhead change,” Standish said. “For me personally he was incredibly supportive and an incredible role model.”

Standish said Henderson was an elder for many years, a perfect position for a man who was a natural leader.

“He had a great ability to lead, but he was also humble,” Standish said. “He had an ability to be both strong and calm and caring. He did an awful lot in his life for a lot of people.”

Henderson was a big supporter of the YMCA system and was on the committee that oversaw the construction of the Rose E. Schneider Family YMCA in Cranberry Township.

Dave Hilliard, executive director of that facility, said Henderson is one of the “founding fathers” of the Rose Schneider facility, but not just because he helped build it.

“Back in the early 1990s, Bill was really concerned about the health of his employees at Robinson Industries,” Hilliard said. “He would have folks from the Butler Y come down to do fitness and health assessments, which started the whole idea for a YMCA facility down here.”

Hilliard called the man a “driving force” in furthering the YMCA’s mission in Butler County.

“Bill was ahead of his time,” Hilliard said. “He was a visionary, in my opinion. He will be missed, that’s for sure.”

Henderson served in the Navy, graduated from Penn State and retired as chairman emeritus from Robinson Industries. He led the company during a time of significant growth and expansion, starting in 1952 and retiring in 2006.

Henderson’s funeral was Wednesday, and he was entombed at the Zelienople Community Mausoleum.