Flags lowered statewide to honor Hilo leader Richard Henderson

The flags above state offices and the Hawaii National Guard were lowered Saturday to honor Richard Henderson, the Hilo-born businessman and former state senator whose footprint ran from downtown commerce to the Capitol. Gov. Josh Green ordered the tribute to run from sunrise May 9 through sunset May 11, a three-day public recognition of a man many on Hawaii Island knew as one of Hilo’s long-standing institution-builders.

Henderson, known as Richard “Scotchy” Henderson, died April 25 at age 97. He was born in Hilo on Dec. 20, 1928, graduated from Punahou School in 1946 and earned a business degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School before returning to Hilo in 1951. Once home, he joined Realty Investment Corp. and later became president of the company, helping steer projects and businesses that touched everyday life across the island.

His business reach was wide. Henderson played a key role in enterprises tied to Hilo Shopping Center, nine theaters, an insurance agency, a wireless phone company, multiple car dealerships, Comtec Cable Co., and KPUA and KWXX-FM radio. That mix of retail, communications and transportation gave him a rare hold on the island’s commercial landscape, and it helps explain why his name remained familiar in Hilo well into his later years.

Henderson also carried that business perspective into public service. He served 14 years in the Hawaii State Senate, first from 1970 to 1978 and then from 1981 to 1987, including four years as Senate minority leader from 1983 to 1987. His path into the chamber began after the death of William Hardy “Doc” Hill, whose Senate seat Henderson was appointed to fill. In a later oral-history interview, Henderson reflected on serving alongside major figures in state politics during a formative period for Hawaii.

Gov. Green described Henderson as someone who devoted his life to serving Hawaii in both the Legislature and the community, with a business-minded perspective that shaped his public work. That legacy had already been recognized in 2011, when Henderson was inducted into the Junior Achievement of Hawaii Business Hall of Fame in Honolulu. Coming after a lifetime spent in Hilo offices, civic organizations and state government, the half-staff order marks him as more than a former lawmaker: it is a statewide acknowledgment of a Hilo figure whose influence still sits behind the island’s economic and political history.