Donald L. Henry
Donald L. Henry, 83, of Taylor Lake Village passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, May 5, 2018 after a courageous journey with cancer. Born in Dayton, Ohio on June 28, 1934 he attended Wilbur Wright High School where he graduated in 1952 in the top 5% of his class and was inducted into the National Honor Society.
Don proudly served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War and trained as a radio traffic analyst. He served with the 6922nd Radio Squadron Mobile operating from Ashoka Air Force Base in Japan as Staff Sergeant. Don was granted Top Secret government clearance for military operations. He was promoted to Tech Sergeant in the Air Force Reserves after active duty. He received several accommodations for his service including the Korean Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.
After receiving an honorable discharge from the Air Force, Don married his childhood sweetheart, Fay Mattox, and together they had five children. Don attended The Ohio State University where he worked his way through college at Diamond Milk Products in Columbus, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from The Ohio State University. After graduation he maintained a lifetime membership in The Ohio State Alumni Organization.
Before moving to Texas, Don held many executive leadership positions including Credit Manager at Lazarus Department Stores in Columbus, Ohio where he pioneered a credit score system to use point scoring for credit applications that later became the National Credit Score System of FICO. Don was Director of Credit Operations and then Vice President of Unicard, a subsidiary of American Express in Long Island, New York, and Vice President of Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. He was a Certified Consumer Credit Executive.
Don authored five nonfiction books pertaining to banking, real estate, and credit and collections. His first book written, “Henry on Credit and Collections,” was used as a textbook in college level courses. Don taught several college classes on real estate and credit at Miami Jacobs College in Ohio. He also wrote over 100 magazine articles on Economic Development and had a syndicated newspaper Q & A on Real Estate. He was President of Royal Features, a newspaper and magazine syndicate.
After moving to Texas in 1978, Don began working at the Johnson Space Center, which is where he worked for nearly 40 years. He was a Technical Writer/Editor III and International Space Station Photo TV Book Manager. He produced flight manuals, publications for NASA, and technical documents that the Astronaut crews used in space. He was still working full time at the time of his death because he enjoyed contributing to the Space program and loved all things NASA.
Don was an avid stamp collector and member of the JSC Stamp Club and American Philatelic Society. He was a Life Member of Veterans of Foreign War (VFW) and American Legion. He served as Rifleman for the Dickinson VFW Post 6378 Honor Guard. Don was a Lifetime Member of the 100 Club and the Sheriff’s Association of Texas. He was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in League City.
As a huge sports fan, especially of the Ohio State Buckeyes and Houston Texans you could find Don in front of the television during the Ohio State games or at NRG stadium for the Texans home games rooting for his favorite team.
Don is preceded in death by his parents, Lewis and Helen Henry of Ohio and son Douglas Lee Henry. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Fay W. (Mattox) Henry, three sons Steven, Gregory, and Gary, one daughter, Belinda, and a grand pup Heavenly Princess Sue.
Pallbearers include Alan Bartos, Tim Baum, Greg Bess, Mike Hurt, Victor Pantusa, and Mark Turner.
Honorary pallbearers include Wayne Beuchaw, Dave Deaton, James Flex, Ken Peters, Lou Rendon, Alfredo Reyes, Jack Sonora, and Rene Trevino of Dickinson VFW Post 6378.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 from 5 pm – 8 pm at Crowder Funeral Home, 1645 East Main, League City, TX.
A processional with police escorts will depart Crowder Funeral Home, 1645 East Main, League City, on Thursday, May 10, 2018 at 9:30 am for military honor services at Houston National Cemetery, 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive. Deacon George Blanford of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, League City, will officiate the service, which will take place in the chapel at the Houston National Cemetery at 11:00 am.
My wife and I both worked with Don as fellow editors in the Space Shuttle Flight Data File group for many years starting in the early 1990s. Don was a gracious mentor to both of us in the early years of our careers, and we were both saddened to hear of his passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and all who knew Don as they mourn his passing.
As a junior member of the Flight Data File editing group in the early 1990s, Don and another of our late colleagues, Jesse Shepherd, took me under their wing as one of only three male editors in the group. I fondly remember Don and Jesse inviting me to step out of the CDPA in Building 35 at JSC with them for quick breaks, where we would “smoke a Coke” together (I’m not sure any of us were smokers!), chat about life in general, and share a good joke or two.
Several years ago, my wife returned to work at JSC in a group not far from Don’s office. She often chatted with him in the hallways and enjoyed seeing Don still supporting the space program that he loved so well.
Don was an amazing professional and a absolute gentleman. We’ll sorely miss him!
Belinda, I am so sorry. You and your family are in my prayers.
It is truly our great loss and Heaven’s gain as Don received his eternal reward. For twenty years our family has enjoyed having him as neighbor and friend. Timber Cove will not be the same without him. Our prayers are with Fay and the children in this time of loss.
Eddie and Trey Weller
What an accomplished man! My prayers are with you in thanking god for a beautiful life and to comfort your hearts with your loss of a giant.
My deepest sympathy to Don’s Wife and Children. Don was an extremely nice man and an excellent coworker. He will be truly missed by his many friends and coworkers at the Johnson Space Center.
I am so very sorry for your loss. I worked as an editor with Don many years ago in NASA’s Flight Data File group, my first job out of college. He was such a nice man, a real gentleman. What a beautiful life he lived! May you take comfort in knowing he touched so many people’s lives.