Who doesn’t love a good love story? And Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel have one of the best love stories ever.
The two women met in 1947, when Donahue was playing baseball for the Peoria (Ill.) Redwings in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and spent the next 72 years together, until Donahue’s death in 2019 at the age of 93. The women were married in 2015, on Donahue’s 90th birthday, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
Netflix released A Secret Love, a documentary about their 72 years in love, in April 2020. And today, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum honored their love — and Donahue’s contributions to the sport of baseball — with the release of limited edition bobbleheads of Donahue and Henschel. The special edition bobbleheads were produced by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, and Donahue’s bobblehead is officially licensed by the AAGPBL.
The Donahue bobblehead depicts the Hall of Famer in a crouching position on a Peoria Redwings base bearing her name, wearing catcher’s gear that includes a removable face mask, and waiting to receive the next pitch. The bobblehead replicates Donahue’s AAGPBL baseball card.
Henschel is depicted on skates and wearing a red Moose Jaw Wildcats hockey uniform with No. 5 across the front, harkening back to when the two women both played hockey for the Wildcats in their hometown of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in Canada. The Henschel bobblehead is holding a hockey stick on an ice rink base which bears her name.
The two bobbleheads connect at the base.
The bobbleheads, both individually numbered, are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store. The bobbleheads are $30 each or $50 for the set of two, plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per order.
Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, Donahue learned to play baseball with the help of her brother on the family farm and later played softball in school. In 1945, Donahue was invited by an AAGPBL scout to spring training the next year in Mississippi and was assigned to the Redwings, an expansion team based in Peoria, Ill. During her four seasons in the league, Donahue played every position except first base and pitcher, but primarily played as catcher. Listed at 5-foot-2-inches and 125 pounds, the right-handed Donahue collected 92 hits, 50 RBI, 44 stolen bases and scored 67 runs in her career.
Donahue, who also played with the Admiral Music Maids in the rival National Girls Baseball League in Chicago, worked for an interior design firm in Chicago for 38 years while residing in St. Charles, Ill. In 1998, she was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2009, she served as the Grand Marshal during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, joining former Chicago White Sox pitcher Billy Pierce and former Chicago Cubs catcher Randy Hundley.
Henschel and Donahue first met at an ice rink while playing hockey for the Wildcats in Moose Jaw. One night, on the back of an ice hockey ticket, Henschel wrote a confession to Donahue that said, “I’m a reader of books, but I’ve never read anywhere where a woman loves another woman. I hope you feel the same way, too.”
For the next several years, Henschel, who was 18 when they met, would travel with Donahue on her baseball trips and watch her play. The couple lived together in the Chicago area — as “roommates” — and remained together, in secret, for decades — only coming out to their families in 2009 when they were in their 80s.
The Netflix documentary, A Secret Love chronicled the longtime relationship between between the two women, who ultimately got married on Donahue’s 90th birthday in 2015.
Directed by Donahue’s great-nephew Chris Bolan and filmed between 2013 and 2018, the love story commenced just in time to capture the couple in their final years together. After suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Donahue died in 2019 at the age of 93.
Henschel, now 92 and who has received fan mail and interview requests since the film’s debut, said of her late wife in a recent interview, “I feel her always. We want to share our love with the rest of the world. I hope that audiences learn to see how true love really works and how wonderful it is.”
National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said, “We are excited to release these bobbleheads of Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel. After the Netflix documentary detailed their relationship, “they have become celebrities and icons ever since their love story was introduced to countless people. While Terry contributed greatly to the history of the AAGPBL and will forever be a role model, the documentary introduced her to a new generation of fans.”
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum is located at 170 S. 1st St. in Milwaukee, Wisc. It opened to the public on Feb. 1, 2019. The HOF and Museum also produces high quality, customized bobbleheads for retail sale as well as organizations, individuals, and teams across the country.
Visit the Hall of Fame and Museum online and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
— Tammye Nash
