Hensley always played loud country music from the boat's stereo, earning him the nickname 'Music Man' from locals.
Born in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, Hensley was raised an only child by his grandmother. At 17, before graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Air Force and earned his GED within the first year.
Hensley was stationed from 1957 to 1960 in Maine, where he met his first wife and started a family with the birth of two daughters.
His third daughter was born a few years later while he was stationed in England.
Hensley was stationed in Fort Walton Beach, Orlando, Patrick Air Force Base in Brevard County and in Orlando again before he retired as a master sergeant after 20 years of service.
During the last 10 years of his Air Force career, he was an instructor of hydraulics.
On the side, however, Hensley always worked on cars -- buying them, fixing them up and re-selling them.
He was so talen! ted with vehicles that after retirement, he opened his own business called Mills Motor Mart in Orlando, where he worked until 1996.
Though he was a hard worker, Hensley almost always kept his sense of humor.
'If anyone asked him 'how are you doing?' he'd say 'I was better, but I got over it,' ' said his wife of two years, Patricia Hensley.
'Or he'd say, 'I am better than sensational.' He was a jokester.'
Twice divorced, Hensley met Patricia Hensley in April 2004. The couple married a year later.
'I must have done something right because I won his heart,' Patricia Hensley said.
'He brought me out of my shell. I was pretty quiet, and I learned how to talk -- I had to learn how to keep up with him.'
Along with his two dogs, Hensley had other pets throughout his life.
'He had a great respect for wildlife and had a pet otter that was featured as pet of the week on Channel 2,' Shelby Hensley said of her father.
'He just started feeding chicken bones, and the! next thing you knew, it was coming into the living room and s! leeping under the bed.'
An active member of the VFW Post 9986 in Astor, Hensley remained a military man until the end.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Hensley is survived by daughters Wendy L. Willmert of Oviedo and Tammy L. Hensley of Orlando; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Beyers Funeral Home in Astor is handling arrangements.
Laura Brost can be reached at lbrost@orlandosentinel.com or407-420-6063.
Copyright © 2007 The Orlando Sentinel, All Rights Reserved.
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Source: http://www.topix.net/content/trb/2007/10/astors-edward-hensley-loved-wildlife-boating-cars-and-jokes
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