Robert F. Henry Jr.

1933 - 2014

Robert F. Henry, Jr.

The Rev. Robert F. Henry Jr., a Presbyterian minister, former president of the Tennessee State Employees Association, and former chaplain at Western Mental Health Institute, died on August 29, 2014 at his residence in Jackson.

Henry was 81. He died of lung cancer, which was diagnosed in July.

He was a Jackson resident for 43 years.

For the past 10 years, Henry was parish associate at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson. He had previously served the Bethel Springs Presbyterian Church in McNairy County following his retirement from the state mental facility in Bolivar.

Henry enjoyed serving the needs of others through pastoral calls, and personal counseling, as well as through the outreach of church congregations and the state employees association. Church youth and children knew "Mr. Bob" for his smiles and words of encouragement.

In his private quarters, he wrote his sermons and read about theology and the Church.

The Rev. John White of First Presbyterian Church, said, "It was humbling and inspiring to see how deeply Bob cared for the pastoral needs of our congregation."

Henry was born on July 28, 1933 and was raised in Leesville, South Carolina. His father was a pharmacist and his mother was a school teacher.

He graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana in 1954 and shortly thereafter joined the U.S. Navy. He was stationed in San Diego, California. where he met Ellen Clarice Osten of Columbus, Nebraska. They were married on June 16, 1957. The next year their son was born.

Henry then earned a graduate degree in divinity from Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. He took chaplaincy training afterward in Columbia, South Carolina. Their daughter was born in Columbia in 1962.

He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister on July 28, 1963.

Henry served two Presbyterian churches in Hampton County, South Carolina for four years and then became a hospital chaplain in Charlotte, North Carolina for Mecklenburg Presbytery. While a chaplain in Charlotte, he served Banks Presbyterian Church nearby.

In 1970 Henry received additional training in chaplaincy in Osawatomie, Kansas at a state mental institution.

The family moved to Jackson in 1971 with his appointment as chief chaplain at Western. He recognized that some of the clearest insights about humanity can come from people who others say are "crazy."

Henry was first elected president of the state employees association in 1980 and held the office for 10 consecutive years. "Bob led the organization through some very tumultuous times," said former member Marie Blair. "He was always calm and had respect from inside the organization and from the governor and legislators."

Survivors include his wife, Ellen; his sister, Mary Elizabeth Middleton of Jacksonville, Florida; his son, David and daughter-in-law, Cheryl Menzies of Fairfield, Connecticut; his daughter, Donna Stovall and son-in-law, Ken Stovall of Jackson; two grandsons, Brodie and Austin Henry; granddaughter, Madison Henry. A brother, Edward Brodie Henry, died in 2001.

A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 2 p.m.

Following cremation, Henry's remains will be buried at the Bethel Springs Presbyterian Church after a short service on a date to be determined.

The family suggests that memorial donations in Henry's name be made to organizations including First Presbyterian Church, Bethel Springs Presbyterian Church, Thornwell Home for Children in Clinton, South Carolina, and Youth Town of Tennessee in Pinson.

Arrangements are under the direction of George A. Smith and Sons Funeral Home, (731) 427-5555