John F. Henning Jr.

1940 - 2025

John F. Henning, Jr.
08/08/1940 - 01/19/2025
This will not be an ordinary obituary, because it is written for an extraordinary person. John Francis Henning, Jr. was beloved by all who knew him. He asked to be remembered as a born and bred boy of the San Francisco Sunset District. He was a devout Catholic, he lived his life as a model follower of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He was a highly accomplished lawyer, an artist, a master craftsman and engineer/builder, an author and a dedicated public servant. He was highly regarded by everyone who knew him.
John had an impressive list of accomplishments, so they are hereby listed:
He graduated from Saint Ignatius High School. He graduated from Saint Mary's College and Georgetown University Law School. He spent a year at Trinity College in Dublin Ireland and travelled Ireland by bicycle. He graduated from Monterrey Institute of Foreign Studies.
He was in the United States Army Reserve in the Vietnam War, for three years when he was a medic on the flight crews bringing home our wounded men and in so doing, flew between Travis Air Force Base in the Bay Area to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines to Da Nang Vietnam and back.He retired and then joined the JAG Corps of the United States Navy serving for 27 years, retiring with the title of Commander, and he finally proudly served in that role on board the Battleship USS Iowa (BB-61).
He spent 16 years teaching Labor Law at the night school at San Francisco City College. He served two terms and Deputy Attorney General of the State of California. He was President and a Member of the Social Services Commission of San Francisco. He was President and a Member of the Public Utilities Commission of San Francisco.
He helped form the law firm of Henning, Walsh, and Ritchie. The firm represented numerous labor clients, including Maritime Unions, the Flight Attendants Unions of United Airlines, of American Airlines and also of Pan American Airways. Other clients were the National Football League Players Association, and he helped to found the California Nurses Union.
He assisted in the historic restoration of the Mission Delores in San Francisco and was part of the crew that discovered the long-hidden Native American mural behind its main Altar.
He retired in 1996 to west Petaluma in Sonoma County. He and his devoted, loving wife and best friend Cathy Souser Henning, together bought, restored and named Woolley Bridge Farm where they raised sheep, cats and donkeys…their fields were host to various herds of cattle tenants over the years. A good deal of pastureland acreage was turned into gardens that have been featured in almost forty publications, magazines and websites.
As an avid hobbyist, he performed architectural restorations for fun. He amassed interesting collections, notably of military memorabilia, a collection of firearms and also American Indian Artifacts and a large collection of hats. Other collectibles were restored by John, including a vintage 1940 Bentley automobile, a vintage Fire Truck from the Bloomfield Fire Company, (now part of the Two Rock Fire Company). He was a certified Rolls Royce mechanic and adept with performing mechanical repairs on most other vehicles and engines.
He was the engineer and builder, he performed massive architectural restoration at Woolley Bridge Farm on the house, two large barns, and two small barns. He lined five hundred feet of creek with handpicked flat stones and added two bridges. He thought his own crowning achievement was to hand-build a large water wheel, reviving the historic French pneumatic water wheel design. He was also a highly accomplished mason.
He was the author of many scripts and short stories and plays, his story on the return of a wounded soldier from Vietnam, "Coming Home", was published in the San Francisco Chronicle section, Our World magazine, and there were 2 million reprints sold.
Finally, he entertained his many friends and acquaintances with his story-telling skills for many years.
John was very devoted to and very proud of his two sons, John Francis Henning, III, and Edward Shea Henning, born of his first marriage.
He will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him. His infectious humor and his love of life, his fabulous stories and tales of his adventures were unique and riveting. Most of all, he was instantly recognizable as a truly kind, caring and generous human being, one that you readily knew you could trust, and one that you instantly liked… and remembered forever.
He will be missed terribly, but his legacy will live on, and everyone will fondly remember the jolly storyteller, the caring and generous, good Christian, and a brave defender possessing strong convictions and who was a true and trustworthy friend.