this is about my Great Aunt Connie
Lives Remembered
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Last Updated: 2:00 pm | Sunday, December 21, 2008
Connie Hensley was court bailiff
She also ran Hamilton County GOP
By Mike McQueary • mmcqueary@enquirer.com • December 21, 2008
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BRIDGETOWN - Constance "Connie" Hensley was the first Republican-appointed female court bailiff in Hamilton County.
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She accomplished that using a keen sense in business and political affairs she acquired through running her own company and being active in the local Republican Party.
"She had a pretty good business sense and had a lot of political savvy. She was the manager for all my campaigns," said Hamilton County 1st District Court of Appeals Judge Ralph Winkler. "She was a really hard worker. Efficient, prompt and didn't offend anyone in the process."
Mrs. Hensley, 86, died of a long-term illness Dec. 8 at Mercy Hospice Western Hills.
During the Depression, her family moved to Harrison and opened Twilight Gardens, the first of two nightclubs her parents would own. She was in high school at the time and helped her parents run the businesses after classes.
Her father, Fred Quatkemeyer Sr., also was involved in the Republican Party.
After graduation, Mrs. Hensley was an office manager at Sealtest Dairy and sold refrigerators and freezers before opening her sub-contracting firm.
After Winkler was promoted to Common Pleas Court, he appointed Mrs. Hensley, chairwoman of the Hamilton County Republican Party at the time, to be a bailiff in his courtroom.
Although a female Democrat was already serving as another judge's bailiff at the time, Mrs. Hensley made history as the first female Republican appointed.
Winkler said he met her at local political events and had grown to trust her. "I knew she was somebody I could depend on," he said.
Winkler family members have participated in 21 elections since 1979 and she was involved in the majority of them, Winkler said.
Mrs. Hensley continued to run her business at night for a while during this time and remained heavily involved in GOP events.
When Winkler moved to Hamilton County Court of Appeals in 1999, his son, Judge Ralph "Ted" Winkler, appointed her his bailiff. She remained there into her 80s, despite health complications.
"I knew her since I was 15. She was always kind of like an aunt to me, a member of our family," Judge Ted Winkler said.
She would go bowling and played bingo at various places for fun and hosted several political events.
"She enjoyed being active in things and being around people," said her niece, Carole Holliday. "She wasn't a stay-at-home or sit-on-the-couch kind of person."
Her husband, Daniel "Dan" Hensley, died previously.
Services have been held.
Burial was in Sarasota Memorial Gardens, Sarasota, Fla.
