Andrea Leah Henderson, known as "Aja" to her family, of Howard Lake, went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Monday, September 14, 2026, just eight days short of her thirty-eighth birthday. Her passing brought an end to her three-year fight with cancer. She finished her earthly journey without complaint.
Andrea was born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, the first of thirteen children of Brian and Sally Ensminger. After short stints in Ohio and California her family settled on a small farm in Princeton, Minnesota where she was home schooled surrounded by siblings, music, nature, and animals. She accepted Jesus as her personal Savior as a young girl and spent the rest of her life wanting to know Him better. She invested time studying His Word and seeking to grow in the things of the Lord. Andrea loved to sing, play the piano, violin, and viola, and played bluegrass with her siblings. She had a silly, quirky sense of humor, and loved her brothers and sisters dearly, making them laugh. She was never without something in her hands: a quilt square, a drop spindle, her Bible. Andrea loved to sing and dance with her youngest sister, Anna, who has truly been a blessing to many.
Andrea met Sam Henderson at Normandale Baptist Church in Bloomington over a Civil War dress she had sewn and their mutual love of history; they were married in January 2015. They made their home in Howard Lake and served together at Legacy Baptist Church, where Andrea played music and taught sewing and knitting to the young women while encouraging them in the things of the Lord. She invested in everyone the Lord brought her way, neighbor or stranger alike, by sharing her faith in her Lord Jesus. She loved color and tasteful, feminine clothing. Sam liked to say she was the color in his life.
Andrea is survived by her husband, Samuel; her parents, Brian and Sally Ensminger, of Princeton; her twelve siblings and their families; her grandparents John and LouAnn Cochran; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her grandparents Lee and Beverly Ensminger.
