Lt. Col. Henry J. (Jack) Cavender USAF Ret.'s Obituary
A loving husband and father, Lt. Col. Henry J. (Jack) Cavender, USAF Ret., age 90, died on June 23, 2025, after fighting pancreatic cancer and Normal Pressure Hydrocephalous. He was a Cleburne County native and a resident of the Anniston area since 1991. He was preceded in death by Annette Hilley Cavender, his wife of 67 years, his grandson Theodore William Fiorella, and his parents, Joseph Jefferson Cavender and Lesta Rollins Cavender. He is survived by his daughters, Catherine Cavender (Michael Heneberry) and Sarah Cavender, his granddaughter Sarah Missouri Fiorella (Andrew Seymour), and great granddaughter Sarah Theodora Seymour.
He enjoyed working, just not too hard, which he continued doing into his eighties. He carried newspapers during high school and college, and attended the University of Alabama and Jacksonville State University, obtaining a BS in music education. After teaching band for three years in Lincoln, AL, and Tallapoosa, GA, he joined the US Air Force. His career path included navigator on transport aircraft and C-130 aircraft rescue, transportation squadron commander, Air National Guard and Reserve Forces advisor, chief fight planner and terminal operations for 21st Air Force, and wing career advisor. During his Air Force career he obtained a master’s degree in Business Personnel Management.
After retiring from the Air Force, he and Annette moved to the Anniston area, where he served as a pilot in the Civil Air Patrol for 19 years. He also worked with his daughter at her company Sarah Cavender Metalworks in Oxford. He was a devoted choir member, elder and committee member at the First Presbyterian Church of Anniston and later attended Church of the Covenant in Lenlock, where a service will be held at 2 pm on Saturday, June 28, to commemorate his life. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Annette and Jack Cavender Endowed Scholarship at Jacksonville State University (AL) or the Church of the Covenant.
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