George Henry

1926 - 2025

George Edward "Ed" Henry, 99 of Louisville, passed away on August 25, 2025, after having built a life based on faith, family and unlimited kindness to all. He was born May 23, 1926 in Camaguey, Cuba while his parents, Dr. V.P. Henry and Mary Henry, were on a Methodist mission assignment. He had three siblings, Mary Morgan and Victor Henry, DMD, both deceased, and Martha Berry, who survives him.

Dad often stated that the greatest honor bestowed upon him was Mom's acceptance of his proposal of marriage. Dad and Martha Belle Ammerman, of Cynthiana, Kentucky, were married on July 5, 1949 and were married for 66 years of marriage until her death on February 1, 2016. Dad was also preceded in death by his and Mom's daughter, Betty Allen Sparks, and his siblings, Mary Morgan and Victor Henry, DMD. He is survived by his sons, G. Edward Henry, II (Gerri), Timothy Mark Henry, and Phillip Victor Henry (Maire). Grandchildren are, Martha Louis Sparks (Todd), Mary Linda Sparks (Eric), Patrick Blackburn (Ji), Sean Blackburn (Dana), and Aaron Henry-Sadlo. Great-grandchildren are Avery Michelle Sparks-Johnson, Elizabeth Belle Sparks-Johnson, Jacob Todd Sparks-Johnson, Conor Blackburn and Asher Blackburn.

Dad was a fourth generation ordained Methodist minister. He graduated from Columbia High School in 1945, Lindsey Wilson College in 1946, Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1948 and the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1951. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Union College in 1980. He and his family remained lifelong supporters of Lindsey Wilson College, now University, where his father served as President in the 1940's and 50's. He had student pastor assignments during his seminary studies and upon graduation served as paster of Methodist churches in Kentucky in Brandenburg, Sebree, Campbellsville, Hawesville, Beaver Dam, Owensboro, Irvington, and four churches in Louisville. He served the administrative positions of Secretary and Treasurer of the Louisville Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and was happy to return to a church ministry in 1981 at Highlands United Methodist Church in Louisville, a church built by his grandfather. It seems unnecessary to say that Dad was a person of great faith, dedicated to his Christian ministry to the families, the churches and communities in which he served. Mom, also a person of strong Christian faith, was his equal and indispensable partner in all of his ministries.

Dad was a person who could do almost anything. Having polio as a child, with he and his family told that he would never walk, he not only learned to walk but backpacked in the backcountry of the Smokies and in the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota. This tenacity led him to a life-long pursuit that he could do anything he put his mind to and fortified with a character of integrity and intelligence he lived to serve the needs of others as pastor, as friend and as family. He instilled these traits in the people that knew him and in his kids. He loved photography, travel, the outdoors, reading, learning new things, woodworking and gardening, especially raising roses. Creativity nourished his soul. In each manifestation it provided him the ability to apply his skills and intelligence to his many interests. He particularly loved the wilderness. It was the purest, unspoiled form of the natural world as created by God. He combined his love of natural beauty with his lifelong passion of photography, the product of which is prominently displayed in his and all of our homes.

A visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3, 2025 at Arch L. Heady at Resthaven, 4400 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY 40218. A funeral service will be conducted at 2:00 p.m., on Thursday, September 4, 2025 at St. Paul Methodist Church, 2000 Douglas Blvd., Louisville, KY 40205, with visitation at the church to start at 1:00 p.m. before the funeral service. Interment will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, September 5, 2025 at Battle Grove Cemetery, 531 E. Pike St., Cynthiana, KY 41031.