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| Title |
Jack Henry obituary from Puget Sound Martime Historical Society |
| Short Title |
Jack Henry obituary |
| Author |
John S. Carver, Jr., and Hal Will |
| Publisher |
http://www.pugetmaritime.org/jhenry.htm |
| Source ID |
S11 |
| Text |
With the death of John Frazier Henry on December 16th the Society lost a man whose talent, dedication and value to PSMHS cannot be adequately measured. Beginning in December 1981 he served as a Board member or Vice President for nine consecutive years and on The Sea Chest staff continuously since 1987.
In the mid-1980s he joined Hal Will (who was computerizing the Williamson photos) in the cataloging of this collection. Jack continued to lead the volunteers in the preservation <http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/messier/negrmcc.html> of this 35,000 picture collection. Every negative was tested for chemical composition nitrate vs. safety film. Jack supervised this process until all nitrate negatives (flammable and unstable) were reproduced on stable safety film by the museum photo lab. Jack piloted this effort in a careful, exacting manner, and was able to keep his group of volunteers interested and motivated in Thursday and Saturday sessions. In addition to this work, Jack handled the correspondence to the hundreds of inquiries from all over the world about ships and sailors who sailed in or out of the Pacific Northwest. He spent over 7,000 hours over 14 years on these PSMHS projects.
Jack, together with Shirley Will (who was at that time PSMHS Treasurer), wrote for and received a National Historical Publication and Records Commission Grant <http://www.archives.gov> of $35,000 to pay for preservation work on the photo collection. Jack's historical knowledge, and his research and writing abilities were very beneficial to the Society. As Exhibit Chairman he planned, directed, and wrote the copy on the last five PSMHS maritime exhibits at MOHAI.
"Steamers' Wake,"
"The Battleship NEBRASKA <http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/14a.htm>,"
"Shipwrecks,"
"Halibut Fishing," and
"Pleasure Boating Around Puget Sound"
were all professional, popular shows. On the "Pleasure Boating" exhibit, Jack and Norm Blanchard went out into the community and found the boat models, and, in the absence of funds, they even raised the money to mount the exhibit.
As a member of The Sea Chest editorial board, Jack copy-edited numerous articles for publication. He encouraged many members in the recollection of their experiences, and he assisted them in writing their stories. He, himself, contributed five articles and two book reviews to The Sea Chest; he wrote many articles for other historical organizations.
His book entitled Early Maritime Artists of the Pacific Northwest, was published by the University of Washington Press <http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/>. For many years he gathered data for this work traveling by canoe and small outboard on both sides of Vancouver Island. jack's wife, Jean, tells of one exciting canoe trip through Seymour Narrows near Campbell River; this was before Ripple Rock had been blown up. Unaware that her watch had stopped, they went through when the tide was wrong and had "one wild ride!"
At the time of his death, Jack had finished the research but hadn't finished writing another book to be entitled Early Important Women in the Pacific Northwest.
Before his retirement, Jack was a Senior Vice President at Pacific National Bank, and for many years he was much involved in civic work. He served as President of the Municipal League <http://www.munileague.org/>, as activist and speaker for the founding of Metro <http://transit.metrokc.gov/>, and as activist and Board member at the founding of the Bellevue Sewer District.
With Jack's death, our Society has lost a distinguished member-a friend, a devoted family man, an enthusiastic maritime historian, teacher, writer, collector, researcher, artist, inventor, and canoe expert. In addition, considering his gentle wit and unfailing courtliness, Jack has left us an inspirational legacy.
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Editor's Note: When this web site was first being discussed and implemented I had the distinct privilege of working with Jack Henry. Despite the newness of this technology, Jack, as a man of unstinting vision for the betterment of the PSMHS, kindly volunteered to help me develop the web site by selecting the photographs which we have mounted on our web site to give the general public some idea of the beauty of the Williamson collection.
He patiently answered my neophyte questions about the different photographs with an encylcopedic knowledge which was a wonder to behold. He did not have to do this "extra duty". But not only did he do it, he did it in a kind, courteous and sometimes humorous fashion which endeared him forever to this humble servant of the PSMHS. It is men like Jack Henry who make the study of maritime history a joy. I will never forget his kindness to me while I worked on this project. He represents the very best in the membership of the PSMHS and his memory will remain with and inspire those of us who carry on his work. |
| Linked to (1) |
John Frazier ("Jack") Henry |
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