Henderson Lee Bratton, 98, passed away August 22, 2025, at his residence with his wife of 63 years, Alicia, at his side. He was born October 11, 1926 in Cuthand, TX where he grew up during the depression. He was the son of Mary Virginia Williams and Jesse Lee Bratton. He worked arduously all his life, his hobby was being a “shade tree mechanic” which he self-taught since he was twelve years old when his dad allowed him to take apart and reassemble the motor of a Model T vehicle his dad owned. He would buy old vehicles, rebuild motors and replace all parts until they ran like new, and sold, sometimes in less than a day. His co-workers allowed him to repair all their vehicles. When vehicles became computerized, he worked on 8N and 9N tractors. He picked cotton since he was eight years old alongside his mom and grandma Maggie in Red River County, Texas farms. When his family moved to west Texas, he became a “roughneck” in the Odessa, Midland, and Big Springs oilfields. He married Margie Wisinger, they had Kenneth and Brenda. Later, he married Alicia Castro-Rojas and they had Anthony (Tony) and Imelda. He worked for Texas Department of Criminal Justice for twenty years until his retirement. After moving to Bogata, TX in Red River County, he loved to fish, hunt, raise vegetables and his delicious tomatoes, besides maintaining the family land he and Alicia owned. He was proud to work by himself even digging two fishing ponds with his 9N tractor. At his last residence in Willis, TX., he mowed and cared for his lawn until three days before becoming ill the 25th of March, 2025. His family loved him and his stories; his friends, neighbors, and caregivers admired his determination to keep mowing as soon as the grass grew more than three inches high. He was like a father to two of his wife’s nieces who loved and respected his guidance. Amazingly, he was aware of all it was happening around him.
Survivors are his wife, Alicia, his children, Kenneth and wife, Vita Bratton, Brenda and husband, Jim Brassier, Tony and wife, Karen Bratton, Imelda Bratton, ten grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandson, one niece, two grandnieces, one great-grandnephew, two great-grandnieces, three first cousins, and their five children.
Funeral mass will be on Monday, September 22, 2025 at 10:30 am, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 109 North Frazier St. {Hwy. 75} & Old Montgomery Rd. {FM 2854}, Conroe, TX 77301 with reception following in the church annex across the street, 704 Old Montgomery Rd.
Graveside service will be on Saturday, October 11, 2025 at 11:00 am at the Cuthand Cemetery, County Road 1412 and Spur 1487, Bogata, TX 75417.
In lieu of flowers, family ask to make donations to the Cuthand Cemetery in care of Jan Hammond, 5797 FM 910, Clarksville, TX 75426.