Obituary of Les Henry

James Leslie (Les) Henry
1940 - 2024

Les Henry age 83 died Friday, June 14, 2024  after a long battle with Congestive Heart Failure and with the assistance of M.A.I.D.

Les was born July 7,1940 at Milden SK and raised on nearby Brunswick farm (NW14-29-12W3) where his father W.J.L. (Lou) Henry and mother A. Irene (Reid) Henry taught lessons of respect, hard work and love of the land.  
 
Les is survived by his partner of 35 years Inga M. Cariou, son W. Jeff (Rachel) Henry, daughter Nola (Mark ) Haidl, son-in-law Gerald (Yunet) Dauk, five Grandchildren , One Great Grandchild, four sisters and many in laws.

 He was predeceased by his parents Lou and Irene (Reid) Henry, his first wife Fran G. (Wilson) Henry 1942-1988., his daughter Patricia D (Dauk) Henry 1968-2002, three sisters and many in laws.

 Les attended Milden school for all 12 grades and from age 10 was involved in all farm activities.  For two years after school he farmed with his Dad but in1960 went off to the College of Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan. The U of S was a big part of his life-   Student, Professor and Professor Emeritus.   He received the BSA degree in 1964 and MSc (Soil Science) in 1968.  While doing the MSc he worked on soil survey in summer and Voc Ag lab instructing in winter.  After the MSc he did field soil survey and fertility work before receiving an academic appointment and rose to rank of Professor.  His research work was in the areas of soil fertility and soil salinity.    The research took him all over the Ag area of Saskatchewan in the summer and extension did the same in winter, in between lectures at U of S.  He drove every mile of every Saskatchewan Highway in the agricultural area.  During his employment days at U of S what he relished most was the FREEDOM, unencumbered by excessive bureaucracy.  

 After retirement he did private consulting for clients in farming, government, cities, towns and industry.  Monthly columns in the farm newspaper GRAINEWS carried on for 48 years. In the summer months much time was spent at his beloved Dundurn farm with crop, huge garden and much fun with neighbours.

He served on foreign assignments in Tanzania (1972-1974) accompanied by the family, and short term assignments in Swaziland (now named Eswatini) and China.

He served his profession as President of the Saskatoon Branch and Provincial Council of the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists (SIA), President of the Saskatchewan Agriculture Graduates Association and Chairman of the Saskatchewan Advisory Fertilizer Council.

Les received many honours and awards including Induction in Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from University of Saskatchewan.          

 He authored and self published two books “Catalogue Houses; Eaton’s and Others” and “Henry’s Handbook of Soil and Water”.  Both books went to multiple printings and neither had a nickel of government money. He was fiercely independent and did it his way.

At his request there will be no funeral. It will be cremation with private family interment of cremains.   

Anyone wishing to connect with the spirit of the deceased can watch the Spring 2022 Convocation Address (a.m. of June 8, 2022) of the Colleges of Agriculture and Bioresources and Veterinary Medicine as a video on the University of Saskatchewan website (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCO2chlNskk)

You can also watch the video of “Frank Sinatra Live at Madison Square Gardens” singing “My Way”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w019MzRosmk

Written by Les – as expected!