Family, friends and community members gathered Monday night, Dec. 4, 2017, nearly filling the First Baptist Church of Brooksville to say goodbye to prominent Chiropractor Donald “Doc” Hensley. Doc was also known for his service to Brooksville in other capacities, serving for seven years as Director of Hernando Youth League, a member of the Hernando County School Board for eight years and football team doctor for over thirty years at Hernando High School.
“Don was baptized in this church,” began Reverend Bill Shaw. Reverend Shaw spoke of Don’s parents as “grand people.” Don’s father, Earl established Hensley Chiropractic in Brooksville. Don was a graduate of the National College of Chiropractic in 1974 and later carried on his father’s practice until he retired.He sat on the Board for the Florida Chiropractic Association and was a member of the American Chiropractic Association.
“Brooksville was always held together by people like Don Hensley,” Reverend Shaw concluded, before Doc’s brothers and sons gave highlights of Doc’s life, speaking to those who knew him well and some who were learning about the doctor for the first time.
Doc was one of four boys. Two of his brothers, Omer and Scott are also area chiropractors. His brother Dale is an engineer who lives in California. Don’s two sons, Blair and Ethan are local chefs and successful entrepreneurs. Dale was the first to remember his brother from “the outsider’s perspective,” he said, joking about himself as the prodigal son.
Their family owned 44 acres of land, and growing up, Don raised horses, “Because it impressed the ladies,” Dale remembered with a smile. He recalled Don and Omer being called by their father to get up early in the morning to take care and pick orange trees from a grove on the property. “If you broke the rules, you had to go pick up a wheelbarrow full of cow manure to use in the garden. Being exposed to farming at an early age caused Don to figure out he didn’t want to be a farmer,” said Dale.
Dale Hensley recounted with fondness several incidents of childhood antics with his brothers. As a teen, Don attended Hernando High School, and played varsity football, wearing number 77. Don was also a bit of a joker, taking some farm-fresh eggs to school to lob at a teacher. But he did develop his faith early, “which started him on a lifelong journey, following Christ.”
Indeed, Don was a member of St. Mary Episcopal Church, Dade City and a also member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Brooksville, as well as First Baptist, where he attended with his family as a child, and preached in his youth group.
“Another thing Don was into was The Gators,” Dale said, gesturing to the large University of Florida Gator head logo, prominently displayed at the front of the church. His youngest brother Scott would later tell their friends and family that as a Seminole fan, he would never understand this.
Scott Hensley said he’d learned a few things that he didn’t know about Don that night. Scott also said he was thankful for being the youngest, because he “missed out on hauling manure.”
Separated by a twelve year age difference, Scott was entering middle school when Don became a practicing Chiropractor. Following Don’s death, Scott recalled the scene walking through his older brother’s apartment with multitudes of photos, Gators memorabilia, and a significant amount of electronic gadgets, which Scott relates to in his own interests.
Scott said that late in his life, impaired by a stroke and other health concerns, Don was still talking about ways he could serve patients or classes he could teach. “That’s my brother, Don.”
Doc’s friends recalled the man much like his brothers, adding that they learned from his brand of work ethic and pride of community involvement, as well as his love of fast cars and Bob Dylan. A lot stories were told about Doc’s life with his buddies, such as fishing and catching no fish, assignment of unique and amusing nicknames (Doc’s was “Loggerlegs”) rounding out his personality for anyone who didn’t know him.