Payton Jayde HENRY

HENRY, FORD, BURNETT, KEITH, REED, YOUNG, HINZ, HESPE, HOLMES, BARTLETT

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 12/28/2015 at 21:35:48

November 16, 2009 --- December 26, 2015

Payton Henry, 6, of Webster City, died Saturday, December 26, 2015 at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 2, 2016 at Foster Funeral and Cremation Center with Pastor Jeff Flagg officiating. Burial will be in Graceland Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 1, 2016 at the funeral home.

Payton Jayde Henry, the daughter of Justin Henry and Brooke Ford was born on November 16, 2009 in Webster City. She was in kindergarten at Pleasantview Elementary.

Payton is survived by her parents; sister, Hayley Henry; brother, Rowyn Henry; grandparents, ReNee (Randy) Burnett of Webster City, Doug Keith of Fort Dodge, Melody (John Reed Jr.) Young of Webster City, Randy Henry of Eagle Grove; uncles, Caleb Ford of Webster City, Josh (Megan Hinz) Ford of Duncombe, Tyler Keith of Winterset; aunts, Kayla Keith of Manhattan, KS, Miranda Keith of Fort Dodge, Amanda (Justin) Harris of Webster City, Stacy Henry of Webster City; great-grandparents, Terry and Diane Keith of Fort Dodge, Loretta Hespe of Webster City, Jerome (Cheryl) Ford of Lincoln, NE, Dan and Jean Henry of Boone; great-great-grandmother, Mabel Hespe of Burton, NE; many cousins and extended family and friends. She was preceded in death by her great-grandparents, Ray and June Holmes and Minnie Henry.

Payton enjoyed going to school and spending time with her friends and teachers. She liked the movie Frozen, playing with My Little Ponies and reading books. Most of all she liked being with her brother, sister and her friends at Riverview Day Care.

*****

The family, whose Christmas plans ended on the two-lane highway between Duncombe and Fort Dodge, was hoping a miracle would save the daughter most seriously injured Friday morning.

But Payton Henry, of Webster City, was taken off life support Saturday, according to Jana Bartlett, of Fort Dodge, a family member who started a social media movement to help the young family.

"She just lit up a room," Bartlett said late Saturday night.

Payton Henry's death was also reported by the Iowa State Patrol.

Bartlett started the Go Fund Me page for the family after the Christmas morning accident.

Justin Henry, 28, was driving his family to Fort Dodge for Christmas with extended family when his pickup collided head-on with a vehicle traveling eastbound in the wrong lane.

Altogether, six people were hurt.

The worst of them was Payton Henry.

"We have a very large family," another family member, Brandy Holmes, said Saturday, "so I know Justin, Brooke, Payton, Haley and Rowyn are surrounded with love during this tragedy. My only hope is that they find peace from within because I can't even imagine what they are going through."

"It's extremely hard for me to deal with the fact that my family has to go through this and I'm all the way out in San Diego," Holmes said. "I feel all that I can do is promote their GFM page to raise funds and share their story."

By Sunday afternoon, the Go Fund Me page for the family had topped $21,000 and was rising steadily. It is called the Brooke & Justin Family Fund and can be accessed online.

According to the page, Payton Henry not only sustained a broken neck in the crash, but first responders discovered that candy had been lodged in her throat.

"She was without oxygen for too long," Holmes wrote.

The rest of the family, Rowyn Henry, an infant; Hayley Henry, 3; Justin Henry and Brooke Ford, 24, all sustained incapacitating injuries, the Iowa State Patrol reported.

Ruth Tomlinson, 20, of Fort Dodge, the driver of the other vehicle, a Jeep Wrangler, was also hurt.

The incident happened near the intersection of 200th Street and Vincent Avenue around 10:51 a.m., according to ISP Trooper Neil Morenz.

Morenz reported that while the family was heading west towards Fort Dodge, Tomlinson' vehicle was eastbound on the same road. Tomlinson was left of center on the wrong side of the road, he said.

The two vehicles collided head-on, causing Tomlinson's Jeep to catch fire.

The injured were taken to Trinity Regional Medical Center.

Payton Henry, according to Holmes, was then Life Flighted to Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines.

Although there was fog on Christmas morning, Morenz said investigators don't believe it was a factor in the accident.

Fort Dodge Messenger - Iowa
December 28, 2015