Epilogue: Marion’s Giving Tree Theater co-owner leaves legacy of love after unexpected death

Love is the legacy Andrea Henley of Robins created with her Giving Tree Theater family, her various educational families, and with her friends, husband, children and relatives who are now mourning her unexpected death Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 5, 2023, at age 47.

She had been living with an autoimmune disease for 25 years, which took several years to diagnose as Sjogren's syndrome. Complications began compounding the past three or four years, worsening in the past six or nine months.

On Sept. 1, her pulmonologist from the Mayo Clinic sent her to the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, where she was admitted. During a test on Tuesday, her heart stopped and couldn’t be revived. Hearts began breaking as the news spread through social media and among her Regis Middle School family, where she taught language arts, and the Xavier Catholic Schools community.

“She loved everybody. If she met you, and as long as you were a kind human being, she was going to love you. And she would let you know that,” said husband Jamie Henley, 48. “Everybody was family to her. If you were connected to her, you were important to her.”

He was her high school sweetheart after meeting at a state theater conference 32 years ago; her partner in marriage for 25 years; and her partner in buying and operating Giving Tree Theater in Uptown Marion since 2019.

Dyanna Davidson, 53, of Cedar Rapids, who considered Andrea Henley to be her best friend, felt that love — the first word that came to mind when describing Henley, along with “generous” and “curious.”

Love is what Davidson will carry in her heart.

“The biggest thing is the love that she had for me, that she willingly shared with me, and the love that I had for her,” said Davidson, who along with husband Scott Davidson, has been involved with Giving Tree Theater onstage and behind the scenes. The couple have agreed to help move the company forward until Jamie Henley feels ready to return.

In the meantime, the cast and crew of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” immediately wanted to move forward with the family feel-good musical, running Sept. 8 to 17.

“Tuesday, after the initial news came out, we still met as a group and along with the theater organizers and people who have run front of house, and had a conversation about whether or not we could still do this emotionally,” said Caleb Haselhuhn, 30, of Coralville, who portrays Schroeder, Charlie Brown’s piano-playing friend.

“The more that we talked about it, we really came to the conclusion that it was important for us to tell that story because people needed like the joy of it. ...

“Also, it's sort of like when you're giving a eulogy — as a performer, it feels like what you can do for that person, or for their family. So it's kind of a sense of responsibility in that way. And I think we're really just leaning into the joy of the carefree childhood in that show.”

“That meant a lot,” Jamie Henley said. “Theater meant a lot to Andrea. I understand that it's hard for them, but I think it's a great way to show how important theater was. And this is just a wonderful story. Charlie Brown and the gang is a great story to tell. So I’m really happy that that's what they chose to do. And it was them — I kind of just said, 'Whatever you want to do. Whatever you think you can do, do it.’ And so I think it's great.

“And not just the show, but the people who jumped up from our theater family to say, ‘We've got this. We've got this handled,’ ordering the concessions, making sure that everything's ready to go — they did it. I didn't have to try to figure out how to do that while dealing with this.

“I think a lot of people have shared that’s because of Andrea. She made that theater her own family.”

Initial plans call for continuing Giving Tree’s 2023 season. Buying tickets is the best way to show support, Haselhuhn said, noting that the theater is a business that needs to stay afloat.

Davidson and her husband went to high school with Andrea Henley’s sibling, Kara Worthington, but didn’t really know Andrea until they became involved with Giving Tree, where both have now appeared in shows and behind the scenes. Dyanna, Scott, Andrea and Jamie hit it off so well that they called themselves the Henleysons.

“It was just like we were supposed to be this friend group and I will miss that so much,” Davidson said. “Jamie will always be a part of us. And Andrea will forever be a part of me.”

Henley lived her faith, Davidson said, and lived for her husband, her three children — Jaden, 23, Anden, 19 and Lainey, 17 — and for Christmas, her favorite holiday. When she became too busy with theater duties to take down the family’s Christmas tree, she just left it up and decorated it for the subsequent holidays.

“It’s been a couple of years, and the tree is still standing,” Davidson said.

“She just loved sleeping in front of it,” Henley said. “It was a tradition we had every Christmas.”

And that’s where Jamie and the kids slept Tuesday night.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 1350 Lyndhurst Dr., Hiawatha, with a rosary to follow. Funeral Mass will be held there at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12. A full obituary will run in Sunday’s Gazette and on thegazette.com.

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