The Reverend Dr. Richard Henry—parish minister, scholar of Czech Unitarianism, avid sailor and mountain climber, and vigorous social activist—died in Seattle on 6 August 2018, aged 97.

In retirement, Dick traveled to Prague six times for research in the Čapek archive at the Unitarian church, eventually publishing Norbert Fabián Čapek: A Spiritual Journey (Skinner House Press, 1999), the first book-length biography of that liberal religious martyr. His second book was Eleanor Roosevelt and Adlai Stevenson (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).

Besides scholarship, the Rev’d Mr. Henry was actively engaged throughout his parish career in social service causes, including Planned Parenthood and the Clergy Council on Abortion. He was an active leader in mental health issues and was twice a delegate to international mental health congresses in London and Toronto. In Denver, CO, he was the founding president of the Good Death Fellowship, promoting death with dignity.

Richard Henry was born on 5 February 1921 in Boston to Richard Henry and Dorothy Miller. He earned an A.B. in philosophy at Harvard University in 1943 and a B.D. at Union Theological Seminary (NY) in 1946. Mr. Henry was ordained on 17 February 1946 by the First Unitarian Society of Brooklyn, NY, where he served as assistant minister (1945–49) under the Rev’d John Howland Lathrop. He moved on to senior ministries at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Church (Knoxville, 1949–57), the First Unitarian Society of Denver (1957–77), and the First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City (1977–86), from which he retired on 1 August 1986 as Emeritus Minister, having meanwhile, in 1979, been awarded a D.D. by Meadville Lombard Theological School.

At his death, Dick Henry was survived by his wife Pat, and his sons Seth and Evan. A Celebration of Life was held on 15 September 2018, at Horizon House, Seattle, WA.