DL Capt. Jack R. Henry

 

~ IN MEMORY ~

Military veteran, DL Capt. Jack R. Henry

December 23, 1928 - September 05, 2021

 

Notification with the passing of retired Delta pilot Captain Jack Rayner Henry, age 92.  Captain Henry joined Delta Air Lines 11-11-1957. 

To view the obituary online and share memories please visit the funeral home website at  

https://www.donehoo-lewisfuneralhome.com/obituary/jack-henry

 

Thank you,

~ Carol for the PCN 

 

Obituary :  JACK'S OBITUARY

Jack Rayner Henry, age 92, died in his sleep Sunday, September 5, 2021.  He is survived by his ex-wife and business partner Shirley “Pinky” Henry; son and daughter-in-law Kim and Maria Nolasco Henry of Sharpsburg; daughter and son-in-law Tori and David Stivers of Peachtree City; grandson Grant Stivers of Los Angeles, CA; step-granddaughter Maria J. Nolasco de Garcia and step-grandson Ervin Nolasco of Hapeville.

 

Jack was born in 1928 in Oklahoma City and was the only child of William Rayner and Mildred Orr Henry.  In 1933, Jack’s family moved to California so his dad could manage western sales for the Pet Milk Company.  They lived in rental houses in Burlingame and San Mateo, south of San Francisco.  In 1941 when Jack was 13 years old, his dad was promoted to general sales manager and transferred to Pet Milk’s corporate headquarters in St. Louis, MO.  They bought a house in Webster Groves, a small suburb of St. Louis.

 

Jack graduated from Webster Groves High School in 1947 and attended Washington University in St. Louis where he met and dated his future wife Shirley “Pinky” Pinckert.  He was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.  In May 1951 he graduated with an engineering degree and because he already had a pilot’s license, applied and was accepted to the U.S. Air Force (AF) Aviation Cadet program.  Jack received seven months basic pilot training at Greenville (MS) AF base, followed by six months advanced pilot training at Vance AF base in Enid, OK before receiving his Lieutenant commission and wings on June 21,1952.  During nine additional weeks of training at Moody AF base in Valdosta, GA, he and Pinky were married at the base chapel on August 9, 1952.  After they moved to Tyndall Air Force Base, Panama City, FL for five weeks of training, Jack was deployed to Okinawa, Japan for 23 months at the end of the Korean War, flying the F-84F Thunderstreak fighter-bomber.  Pinky was able to quickly join him because she got a job with the Department of Army Civilians teaching children of servicemen stationed there.

 

When Jack’s AF career ended, the couple moved to Kirkwood, MO where son Kim was born April 3, 1955.  Jack tried various jobs until he was hired as a flight engineer by Delta Airlines in November 1957, and the family moved to New Orleans where daughter Tori was born May 27, 1959.  Delta transferred Jack to Atlanta in 1960 where he built a duplex for the family on Georgia Avenue in Hapeville.  The house was so close to the Atlanta airport that Jack rode his bicycle to work.  In the late 1960s before the airport expanded and took their home, Jack built another home, moving the family to Forrest Hill Drive in March 1968.   

 

Because employees and their families could fly free on Delta planes, Jack took the family on international vacations to Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy, England, Israel, Kenya, Egypt, Portugal, Venezuela, and Ireland. He and Pinky visited Puerto Rico, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, and Russia.  Jack also planned family camper family trips to Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.

 

In 1963 Jack and Pinky bought 134 acres of land in Coweta County for $14,000 ($104/acre). They later bought more land in Coweta and developed Crossroads Estates and Rayner Woods subdivisions in Newnan.  Their third and last subdivision development was Oconee Woods in Sharpsburg near Canongate Golf Course.  They started clearing the land in 1995, and the first house was built in 2005.

 

In 1970, Jack was looking for a used car when he found a 1934 Ford V8 4-door sedan that still ran and was in pretty good condition.  He bought it for $350 and began his antique car restoration hobby.  He eventually took it completely apart to the frame and restored it from the ground up. Jack took auto body classes at Atlanta Area Tech and over about seven years, he refinished the car’s body. He purchased an industrial sewing machine and convinced Pinky to take upholstery classes so she could refinish the mohair car seats, which she did.  He and Pinky joined the Early Ford V8 Club of America and attended car meets in Georgia.  In 1978, the car won a 1st place trophy at the Eastern National meet and 3rd place at the Grand National meet in Tulsa, OK; they drove the car roundtrip!  Jack later bought a 1940 LaSalle sedan, restored a 1932 Ford V8 Flathead roadster and a 1940 Studebaker Commander, the car his family traveled in when they moved to St. Louis.

 

Jack was a good provider for his family, paying for college educations for both his children:  a bachelor’s degree and dental school for Kim and bachelor and master’s degrees for Tori.  He also bought them their first cars - used Ford Pintos, so he could maintain and repair them if needed.

 

Since he enjoyed ballroom dancing and big band music, after he was divorced and retired, Jack joined single senior dance groups in north Atlanta.  He was on the board of directors for Solos and After-Hours Social Club.  He was also a member of the Executive Suite Singles.  He was such a good dancer that he earned free passage on cruise ships by dancing with single women on board.  He was still participating in Atlanta dance groups when he was 90 years old.

 

Jack’s final construction project was Henry Towers, a commercial building located at 3619 South Fulton Avenue in Hapeville.  Son Kim’s dental practice operates from there and businesses rent the other offices.

 

For 52 years, Jack lived in the second house he built in Hapeville until his children moved him to Hope Center Memory Care in Fayetteville April 2020 after he could no longer live alone.  Hope and Southern Grace Hospice employees, especially his nurse Amanda and aide Angie B., took wonderful care of Jack, and his family is grateful for their kind and dedicated service.  He will be interred by the US Department of Veterans Affairs at Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA on September 24, 2021.