Obituaries : * Harriet Henson; Former Mayor of Ventura

Harriet Farrell Kosmo Henson, former mayor of Ventura, died Sunday at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura. She was 63.

She was born on April 27, 1936, in Keene, N.H. She graduated with honors from Simmons College in Boston.

In 1964, she moved to Ventura, where she volunteered as a PTA room mother and worked in the library at Poinsettia Elementary School.

Henson was president and director of the Ventura County League of Women Voters from 1967 to 1971.

She became active in civic affairs and was a member of the Ventura County Taxation Revision Committee. Beginning in 1971, she served on the Ventura Planning Commission.

Henson was elected twice to the City Council, serving from 1976 until 1984. From 1978 through 1982 she was mayor, the first and only female mayor of the city.

City Clerk Barbara Kam said, “She was one of our finest mayors and was delightful to be around.”

Henson was a board member and chairwoman of the Ventura County Regional Sanitation District, the Ventura County Assn. of Governments and the Ventura Redevelopment Agency.

In 1981, she was named Citizen of the Year by the Ventura Board of Realtors. She also received an award as Role Model for Women by Ventura Community College.

Henson received the Petit Award for outstanding service from the Ventura Chamber of Commerce in 1982.

From 1987 until her retirement in 1998, Henson was an officer and director of Golden Odyssey Travel Agency in Ventura.

She is survived by her husband, retired Judge Burt Henson; sons Fred Kosmo of San Diego and David Kosmo of Santa Barbara; daughter Linda Zavala of Phoenix; step-children, Lynn McMahan, Charlene Theurer, Deborah Henson-Conant, Julie Rapattoni and Alisa Houck; sister Hazel Gordon of Mill Valley; and 17 grandchildren.

Flags throughout the city of Ventura will fly at half-staff today through Friday. Mayor Jim Friedman will open the Sept. 13 council meeting at 7 p.m. with commemorative remarks in honor of Henson.

Contributions in her name may be made to the Ventura Missionary Church.

Memorial services are scheduled at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Ventura Missionary Church, with Pastor Leonard DeWitt officiating.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Charles Carroll Funeral Home in Ventura.