Tributes paid to ‘old school’ policeman and tireless supporter of The Prince of Wales Hospice

Long service: Bill Henderson worked as a detective and was involved in major cases.

Retired Superintendent Bill Henderson, who worked as a detective in Leeds for many years and supported Pontefract’s Prince of Wales Hospice for 30 years, died of coronavirus in Pinderfields Hospital at Wakefield on April 2 aged 78.

Great grandfather Mr Henderson, of Pontefract, was a popular and well-known figure in the town and people lined the streets at a safe distance to applaud as his funeral cortege made its way to Pontefract Crematorium on April 22.

Mr Henderson organised countless fundraising concerts and dinners for the Prince of Wales Hospice and launched a fundraising darts and dominoes league in the areas pubs and clubs in the 1980s.

He later co-ordinated the Hospice & Charities Darts & Domino league, which has funded six vehicles to support the hospice’s shops since 1993. Mr Henderson was a member of Pontefract Rotary Club and was due to become the club’s president for the third time this July.

His grandson Alex, 25, said: “He was a real old-fashioned gentleman and old-school copper - he was just brilliant.”

Mr Henderson’s son Iain, 52, who works as a nurse at St James’s Hospital in Leeds, said: “He was larger than life and filled every room he went into.”

Mr Henderson, who had two children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, was born in Newcastle and joined West Yorkshire Police as a constable in 1964.

He worked in Leeds as a detective and was involved in major cases including the Yorkshire Ripper enquiry.

He reached the rank of Superintendent and ended his career working as the divisional officer in Pontefract when he retired in the mid 1990s.

Mr Henderson’s eldest son Andrew died in 2008 aged 43 and his wife Irene died aged 69 in 2012. Both had cancer.

Rebecca Taylor, Prince of Wales Hospice community fundraiser, said: “He had a beaming smile and a heart filled with passion which made him the selfless man that we will always remember.”

Hospice chief executive David Stewart, said: “His support was immense, and he was very proud of the part he played in ensuring their success over the years.”