HENRY, Coach Clayton G.

FORREST, HENRY

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 1/16/2016 at 00:31:06

Biography of Clayton G. Henry
Graceland University, Lamoni, Iowa

Clayton G. Henry was born July 4, 1923, in Scott City, Kansas, the son of Hiram and Edna (Forrest) Henry. Clayton spent most of his youth in Salina, Kansas where he won an award as the top student in Kansas for math and Latin achievements.

Clayton played professional baseball as a pitcher and attended Graceland for one year, then served three years in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Clayton attended the University of Iowa, earning his bachelor's degree in 1948, and his master's degree in physical education in 1949. His basketball coaching career began when he accepted a position as an assistant coach at Ball State University's high school affiliate. He then taught high school math at Iowa City, Iowa, and Kansas City, Kansas, where he also coached basketball.

In 1956, Clayton became an air defense programmer for the Rand Corporation, helping write and implement the first computer-plotted air defense systems, helping replace the practice of plotting on plexiglass. He resumed his career as a high school math teacher and basketball coach at Shawnee Mission, Kansas, remaining there until he joined Graceland's faculty.

Coach Henry came to Graceland in 1966 as men's basketball coach and a physical education professor. He later added mathematics to his teaching schedule. He coached basketball from 1966 through the 1977-78 season, then returned to his old role for the 1981-82 season. He also coached the tennis team for a while.

Although Coach Henry inherited a team that had won only three games during their 1965-66 season, he guided the Yellowjackets, consisting of freshmen and sophomores, into a second-place finish [third-place finish by some accounts] in the Missouri Valley Athletic Conference during his first season at the helm. This team won all nine of their games. After posting a 0-20 record in the 1973-74 season, Coach Henry lobbied for improved recruiting efforts for basketball that eventually brought the Yellowjackets their first Heart of America Athletic Conference basketball championship in 1978.

Coach Henry retired as professor emeritus in 1982. After leaving Graceland, Coach Henry continued to be active in the RLDS Church at Akron, Ohio; Iowa City, Iowa; and San Antonio, Texas.

Clayton died on October 14, 2014, at the Country View Senior Living Center, North Liberty. Interment was made at Gypsum Hill Cemetery, Salina, Kansas.

Coach Henry was inducted into the Yellowjacket Hall of Fame in 2002.

SOURCES:

Edwards, Paul M. "The Hilltop Where . . . An Informal History of Graceland College." Pp. 116, 121-22. Venture Foundation. Lamoni IA. 1972.

Goehner, David. “The Graceland College Book of Knowledge: From A To Z.” p. 414. Herald House. Independence MO. 1997.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2013; updated January of 2016

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