Basil Wilcox Henderson, Jr.

Basil Wilcox Henderson, Jr., a man of deep conscience, mischievous humor, and abiding love for his family, died peacefully, surrounded by close family and friends. He was 79. The cause was amyloidosis, a rare blood disease.
Basil was a man of many parts—motorcycles, cars and dark humor, public service and policy insight, spiritual exploration, music of all kinds, and devotion to the people he loved. His life was defined by service, curiosity, and a steadfast determination to do what was right, even, as his wife Anne often said, when it wasn't the usual thing. Basil was also a man of interesting contradictions, a Baptist Sunday-school conscience mingled (sometimes uncomfortably) with a strong rebellious streak.
Early Life and a Fateful Meeting
A war baby and an army brat, Basil was born in Painesville, Ohio, to Thelma Verne Kaine, while his father, Basil W. Henderson, Sr., was stationed in India with the US Army Signal Corps. The family moved often, sometimes more than once a year, as assignments came frequently and good housing was hard to find. When he was in 8th grade, the family settled in Arlington, Virginia, and Basil graduated in 1962 from Wakefield High School.
After a short stint at the University of Pennsylvania, Basil transferred to American University. Soon, he locked eyes with a fellow transfer student, Anne Thompson. He stood out, with his vintage BSA 600-single motorcycle, wearing Sunny's Surplus combat boots and his trademark air of mischief. What began with borrowed class notes and a memorable hitchhiking encounter quickly grew into a lifelong partnership.
They married on December 3, 1966, surrounded by friends and siblings who stayed in their circle for the rest of his life.
Service, Policy, and a New Pathway
Basil's early career included work for the U.S. House of Representatives, the New Jersey Departments of Community Affairs and Higher Education, and service in the New Jersey National Guard during the Vietnam era. But his discovery of Transcendental Meditation would transform the spiritual core of his life. After training as TM teachers, Basil and Anne taught hundreds of people across Virginia, New Jersey, Washington, DC, and Florida, helping others find the calm and clarity that had changed their own lives.
Basil's talent for analysis and writing led him into public service during the Carter Administration, where he served in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare under Secretary Joseph A. Califano, Jr. On his very first day on the job, he was asked to draft a witty toast for Joe to offer at Art Buchwald's daughter's wedding. Joe loved it. Basil's gift for clear thinking and eloquent prose made him indispensable throughout his later career at Dewey Ballantine, LLP, where he became a respected health-care policy expert.
Transforming Health Care
A defining partnership of Basil's career came when nurse-midwife and MacArthur Award-winner Ruth Watson Lubic walked into his office. She sought help to establish a birth center in Washington, D.C. for high-risk, low-income women. With Basil's persistence and strategic acumen, the Family Health and Birth Center opened in an underserved neighborhood with the highest infant mortality rate in the country. The outcome? Dramatically improved maternal and infant health, humane and family-centered care, and millions saved annually in health care costs.
When the center needed a long-term home, Basil facilitated its merger with Community of Hope, an effort that helped create a thriving, warm, art-filled health center that now serves thousands of families every year. He also forged connections with THEARC and the David Lynch Foundation, expanding access to Transcendental Meditation for families and staff.
His dedication to holistic health care continued into retirement as a co-founder of the Center for the Advancement of Integrative Health, aimed at demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of TM for veterans and others facing trauma.
Family First
For all his accomplishments, Basil's greatest devotion was to his family. He was a tender and attentive father to his daughter, Amy-Louise, welcomed his son-in-law Len, and reveled being a grandfather to Thompson and Aleta. They brough him profound joy, and he delighted in every chance to play, teach, joke, and enjoy movies and music together. During the pandemic, Amy-Louise's family moved in with Anne and Basil. Two years later, they got through losing him together.
His brothers, son-in-law, nieces, nephew, cousins, and wide circle of longtime friends were an essential presence in his life. He nurtured friendships across decades—with colleagues, fellow meditators, music lovers, and the many people whose lives he touched through his work.
A Man of Music, Humor, and Contrary Tendencies
Music was Basil's lifelong companion. From Mississippi John Hurt to James Brown, from rock and blues to symphonies and opera, he lived in a soundscape that spanned continents and centuries. A dedicated audiophile, he built a high-end tube sound system with seven components, including a digital-analog converter and a sub-woofer, and amassed 24 feet of vinyl records, searching always for the most authentic sound.
His contradictions were delightful and revealing: A biker with a sturdy moral compass. A man who wore a suit and tie over a Grateful Dead T-shirt. A lover of rock 'n' roll who misted up at the opera. An iconoclast who adhered to the highest standards. And always, there was his dry, perfectly timed, perceptive, and never nasty sense of humor, a daily gift to everyone around him.
A Life Well Lived
Basil traveled widely with Anne, exploring England, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, India, and the Himalayas. He meditated faithfully, served generously, taught selflessly, and approached every challenge with poise, acumen, and intelligence. Everywhere he went, he made things better.
In the end, Basil and Anne often debated which one was luckier. He insisted it was he; she countered that, no, it was she. Now that she has the last word, she says that surely, she was the lucky one. And so were all of us who knew him.
Basil's was truly a life well lived, rich in love, wit, insight, purpose, mischief, and adventure.