John Charles Henley III ’44

JOHN DIED Aug. 10, 1992, after 71 good and productive years. He never withdrew from public service. His philanthropic devotion to Birmingham's educational and cultural institutions was a lifelong commitment he backed with grants from the LinnHenley Charitable Trust. He headed the Birmingham Publishing Co., from its presidency, in 1948, to chairman of the board in recent years. He was a talented raconteur who brought a very personal touch to all his business activities. His fascination with Honduras led him to establish the Bay Island Co., a development enterprise there. At Princeton he studied public opinion, politics, and law. He is well remembered for his booming paradeground voice, its timbre begun at the Marian Military Institute and further enhanced by Princeton R.O.T.C. and the Commando Training Unit he led. He was awarded Nassau's highest undergraduate military honor, the Officer's Cup. John roomed with Barr, Harr, and Warner in the senior barracks at Laughlin, intriguing his comrades with his bow hunting forays against Princeton's squirrel population. Commissioned at Ft. Sill in Sept. 1943, he served in the O.S.S. and in the Intelligence Section of the Office of Chief of Staff in Washington, and at the headquarters of the Eighth Army in the Philippines and Japan. He loved Princeton: "a treasure of my life." He leaves his widow, Arlene; three sons; two daughters; and two sisters. To them and all who cherished this generous man go our deepest sympathies.

The Class of 1944