- Date Of Birth: September 26, 1942
- Date Of Death: March 21, 2019
- State: Idaho
Claude Junior Henry was born September 26, 1942 in Murray, Arkansas to Charley McCoy and Nola Henry. He was only a few months old when his family moved across country to Caldwell, Idaho where it was rumored there was work in Caldwell at both Simplot’s and the fruit orchards. This was during the time of the famous “dust bowl” and there was no work on the farms in Arkansas. This trip took five days coming in a farm truck and an old station wagon. Claude was one of twelve children in the old covered farm truck. His mother went to work at the Simplot’s and his dad drove a truck in the orchards. Arriving in Caldwell was the beginning of a good life, which took about five years so, following the war. His father was an avid hunter and fisherman, of which Claude enjoyed very much with his father, brothers and many of their friends over the years. Claude attended Caldwell schools until his senior year when the family moved to Boise where he graduated from Borah High School. He then attended Boise Jr. College for a short time and then transferred to Brigham Young University on a baseball scholarship, as a starting pitcher.
He and his wife, Ann, had three children: David, Melinda and Shawn. They moved to Pittsburg doing research with pickles for the Heins Company. There he earned his PhD in microbiology at the University of Pittsburg. The family moved to Spokane, Washington where he worked for Deaconess Hospital and also did research for them. The family then moved to California where he worked for Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. There he developed a new diagnostic test for Herpes 2, which was the first test for this disease. He started a business and planned to sell these diagnostic kits, but because it was too expensive, he decided he would not do this on his own. The family moved back to Boise to be closer to his family and hunt and fish. His kids all went to Boise school and he worked at the VA Hospital.
He lived in California where he met and married his wife, Marge. They had two children, Claudia and Charley.
His hobbies included recreation activities such as traveling, numerous cruises, travel abroad to the Philippines and China. His love and passion was his large sailboat, where he was proud of his captain’s license. He sailed the western coast of Mexico, Ensenada, La Paz, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta.
Claude had several health problems later in life and died on March 21, 2019 after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease.
He is survived by his wife, Marge and children: Claudia, Charley, David and Shawn of Utah and Melinda of Sacramento. He is also survived by several grandchildren, siblings: Virginia Pierce, Charley Henry, and Louella Dodd; along with sever nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Tommy Henry.
