HENKE, Frederick Goodrich 1876-1963
HENKE, RUDOLPH, HIRSCH
Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 5/26/2009 at 17:50:19
Dr. F.G. Henke, Charles City, dies on October 6, 1963.
CHARLES CITY, IOWA — Dr. Frederick G. Henke, Methodist minister and educator and a Floyd County official, died early Sunday at the Chautauqua Guest Home here. He had been a patient in the home since last December.
Services have been set for 2 p.m. Wednesday at Central Methodist Church in Charles City. The Rev. William Green will officiate, assisted by Dr. Arthur J. Kindred of Mason City, who is Methodist district superintendent, and the Rev. C. D. James, Charles City.
Burial will be at the Riverside Cemetery, with Grossman-Hage Funeral Home in charge.
Dr. Henke is survived by his wife, Selma. There also are several nephews and nieces.
Frederick Goodrich Henke was born in Alden on August 2, 1876. He was a son of the Rev. Edward William and Anna Margaret (Rudolph) Henke. He attended public schools at Storm Lake and Gladbrook and at Galena, Illinois. At 15 he enrolled in the Galena college and later came to Charles City when the college was moved there. He received the A.B. degree in 1897.
In December 1900 he left for China to work in the Central China Mission of the Methodist Church, and spent most of his first year in Nanchang, capital of the Kiang-si Province.
According to previous arrangement, he met Miss Selma Hirsch of Charles City, daughter of J. P. Hirsch; second president of the Charles City College, upon her arrival in Yokohama, Japan, on September 3, 1901. The following day, as planned, they were married in the U.S. Consulate in Kobe by the Rev. B. Moseley of the Southern Methodist mission.
In December they were moved from Nanchang to Kiu Kiang on the Yangtze River, where they lived until their return to America on furlough in the spring of 1907.
In 1907 he enrolled for graduate study in Northwestern University and took an M.A. degree in 1908. From Northwestern he went to the University of Chicago, receiving a Ph.D. degree cum laude in 1910.
In 1910 on invitation from the University of Nanking he returned to China as professor of philosophy and psychology; The university was just getting under way after the amalgamation of the boys' colleges of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Disciples missions under the United Board.
In his three years there, he served not only as professor but also as university chaplain and librarian. As Chaplain he was in charge of the Sunday service in the university church, preaching in Chinese. He also acted as interpreter for the guest speakers from America.
As librarian he arranged and classified the books of the newly organized University of Nanking. He received numerous shipments of new books given by interested friends in America. Training students as helpers was part of his work.
On invitation from sinologues in Shanghai, Dr. Henke pursued the translation of the philosophy of Wang Yang-ming from classic Chinese into English and was elected member of the North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
When, at the end of three years he felt compelled to return to America because of health, the boys of his classes honored him with a banner commemorating his work of translation.
After one year at Willamette University, Salem, Oregon, he went to Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, as professor of Philosophy and education, serving as acting professor for two years before he was formally appointed to the Truman D. Collins Chair of Philosophy and Education.
This position he held until his retirement from teaching in 1942 as professor emeritus.
From 1928 to 1942 he also served as Director of the Summer Session, of special assistance to teachers who were working for state certification.
While in Pennsylvania he achieved impressive recognition as an educator. In 1930-38, he was president Of the Association of Liberal Arts Colleges for the Advancement of Teaching; and 1939-41, chairman of the Cooperative Commission for the Study of Teacher Education, both organized to gain better cooperation between private and state institutions. In 1938 the State Education Assn. elected him president of the Department of Higher Education.
For 20 years he was extension professor for Penn State College (now university). He was elected a member of the Allegheny Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. And for 32 years he was national treasurer of Kappa Phi Kappa, education fraternity.
In 1941 he and his wife moved to Charles City. In 1943 he was appointed a member of the Board of Supervisors of Floyd County and served until 1956. At the request of District Judge T.A. Beardmore he also became juvenile probation officer of Floyd County in 1943 and served until 1959.
As chairman of the International Service Committee of the Charles City Rotary Club he carried on extensive correspondence with Rotary clubs all over the world. For this he was given the distinguished service award by the Charles City Rotary Club.
He was the second of eight sons, and is the only surviving member of the family of ten, One of his brothers was the late Wesley G. Henke, long prominent in Iowa legal and American Legion circles. William Henke is a nephew.
MASON CITY GLOBE GAZETTE, MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1963
Floyd Obituaries maintained by Lynn Diemer-Mathews.
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