Henry was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota, in 1921.[1] He graduated from Cathedral High School[2] and in 1943 received his bachelor's degree from St. John's University, an all-male college in Collegeville, Minnesota.[1][2] He attended Harvard University as a graduate student.[1] He later obtained his master's degree in political science, his MBA, and his doctorate in political science from the University of Chicago.[1][2]
Henry enlisted as a United States Naval officer during World War II.[1] After the war he returned to St. Cloud, where he worked as a political science professor at St. John's University for 19 years.[1] Henry chaired the political science department from 1954 to 1971.[2] He later became Vice President of St. John's[1] and the founder of the school's development department.[2]
Henry served two terms as mayor of his native St. Cloud, from 1964 to 1971.[1][4] He chaired the St. Cloud school board during the 1960s.[2] In 2010, the St. Cloud Times described Henry as "one of the most influential mayors in St. Cloud history".[2] During his tenure as mayor, Henry founded Tri-CAP, the first anti-poverty program to encompass several towns and other municipalities in the rural United States.[2] He spearheaded the relocation of the St. Cloud Regional Airport, the creation of the St. Cloud Housing Authority and the development and construction of what became the Municipal Athletic Complex.[2] Henry negotiated an agreement to annex the Crossroads Center shopping mall to the city of St. Cloud. The mall had been part of an adjacent township before the annexation.[2]
Henry oversaw a civic development program that culminated in St. Cloud receiving an All-America City Award in 1973, after he had left office.[2] He is credited with founding the Center for the Study of Local Government, the first small-city research center in the United States, at St. John's University.[2] The center, founded with a grant from the Ford Foundation, operated from 1968 to 1979.[2] His successor as mayor, Al Loehr, who served from 1971 to 1980, credited Henry with laying the foundations for the development of St. Cloud's downtown area.[2]
Henry was appointed the first male lay President of Saint Mary's College in March 1972, shortly after Saint Mary's ended a proposed merger with the University of Notre Dame.[1] Notre Dame had begun admitting women in the early 1970s, which hurt Saint Mary's enrollment.[5] Shortly after taking over the presidency, Henry told a local newspaper, "I would not have accepted the presidency if I didn't see a great future for Saint Mary's."[1] He announced his resignation as president of Saint Mary's in January 1974.[2][5] Enrollment at Saint Mary's College increased 150% during his administration.[5]
In 1976, Henry became president of Saint Michael's College, a Roman Catholic college in Colchester, Vermont,[2] where he served as president until his retirement in 1985.[2] His retirement from the academic world did not last long. He became the eighth president of Marian College in July 1986.[3] Under his administration, enrollment increased at the college and the Townhouse Village residence facilities were constructed in 1988.[3]
Henry spearheaded the creation of the first graduate program at Marian and the implementation of an evening and weekend degree completion program.[3] He left Marian in June 1989.[3] He served as the interim President of Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina from 1989 to 1990.[2]
Henry authored two books, including Micropolis in Transition (1971), a study of St. Cloud.[2]
Henry died in Roseville, Minnesota, on September 30, 2010, aged 89.[1] He was survived by nine children and two brothers. He was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, Elizabeth Anne "Betty" Henry, who died in 2004.[1]
Al Loehr, who became St. Cloud's oldest living former mayor upon Henry's death, said of his predecessor, "He was one of the most intelligent leaders I've known, and I've known a lot of them...I commend him. He was an exemplary leader and a great asset to me. That's the type of person he was — an outstanding public servant." St. Cloud's current mayor, Dave Kleis, who often received advice from Henry while serving as a Minnesota state legislator, said Henry "had a tremendous impact on St. Cloud."[2]