SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A man well known in the Kanawha Valley for his efforts to mentor young people is dead after an accident Tuesday night.
Obi Henderson, 31, of Charleston died in the crash on Corridor G in Kanawha County near the Southridge Shopping Center. Witnesses say Henderson’s vehicle came off Parkway Avenue, traveled across four lanes of traffic, then plunged over a steep embankment and burst into flames.
A cause for the accident remains under investigation by South Charleston Police.
Henderson was involved in a number of efforts to help mentor underprivileged youth in the Charleston area. He founded the group Dream Chasers to steer at-risk children from poor homes in West Virginia toward education and opportunity. He would bring them to the Economic Development Center at West Virginia State University to improve their communication and leadership skills and develop tools to help pursue a career or entrepreneurship.
Rev. Matthew Watts, pastor at Grace Bible Church on Charleston’s West Side, knew Henderson as a member of the church. He referred to him as “a combination of the Pied Piper and Peter Pan.”
“He had the mightiest touch with young people. They followed him. They listened to him. They loved him, respected him. He was able to get them to do things and engage in activities that many people just simply could not get them to do,” Watts told MetroNews.
Delegate Mike Pushkin (D-Kanawha) spoke about Henderson’s life during a speech Tuesday on the House Floor. Pushkin said Henderson was a West Virginian by choice.
“He relocated here from Chicago where he grew up. When he found himself here in Charleston, he found himself struggling a bit and hit hard times, which he was fortunately able to work his way out of,” Pushkin said. “He devoted his life to improving the lives of others.”
Watts said Henderson never took life for granted and that he always wanted to better the lives of children.
“He certainly lived every day like he thought it was going to be his last,” Watts said, holding back tears. “He lived with what Martin Luther King referred to as this fierce urgency of now — he thought that things needed to be done now if we were going to help our kids.”
“I’ve known no one that had that fire that he posed,” he said.
The Grace Bible Church will continue Henderson’s mission to help children, Watts said.
“What he would want us to do would be to pick up that mantle to continue to encourage and inspire young people,” he said.
Henderson was active in the Charleston community last year following the shooting death of James Means, 15, on Charleston’s east end. He helped speak for the community and rally residents around a push to keep the alleged shooter, William Pulliam, in jail while awaiting trial on murder charges.
In one of his most recent Facebook posts, Henderson lauded West Virginia State University President Anthony Jenkins’ commitment to serve and help improve the lives of West Virginians.
“I was always challenged by him. I was always inspired by him,” Watts said. “I’ll never forget him.”