Bob Henry- A Personal History

By Bob Henry

Where a person has been is generally a good guide to where he is going

A son of that union, Rev. Robert Youngblood Henry, born in the 1860's, graduated from Philander Smith College in the 1910's. The family settled in Hope, Arkansas, the Henry family ancestral home.

One of the reverend's sevens son and two daughters, Charles Leroy Henry, a physics teacher later, worked for the federal government in Washington, D.C. on a hush-hush project during the Second World War. He married Inola Frances Hinchen, daughter of Spencer Hinchen, of Carthage, Texas.

Having three older siblings, Inola Frances Henry, Charlesetta Henry and Charles Leroy Henry, Jr., Robert Spencer Henry was born on September 12, 1948, in Lawton, Oklahoma, in a house right across the field from Fort Sill Indian School (A Comanche Indian Reservation).

As a teenager, Bob was proud of participating in the Oklahoma Youth Legislature, held over a weekend at the state capitol in April of 1965, introducing more bills that session than any other youth legislator. On the floor, he joked about Oklahoma electing its first Republican Governor, Henry Bellmon, not realizing the Governor was in the stands enjoying the proceedings. The Governor stopped at his desk to shake his hand when delivering his speech to the youths that Sunday. Henry also counted among his family friends, former United States Senator Fred R. Harris (Dem.-Okla. (Lawton)).

At the age of 16, with his Oklahoma school closing, Henry was allowed by his father to move to Los Angeles with his grandmother and transfer to graduate from John C. Fremont High School in Los Angeles. Henry was quickly appointed to the Student Council and became Boys Judge,

From Fremont, in the summer of 1966, Henry attended Summer School at Harvard University taking Government 1SB under Professor William Y. Elliott, the Venerable Bard of Harvard, and making the only "A" grade out of 70 students in the class.

In the fall, Henry attended Purdue University, being elected to the Freshman council for the university. However, Henry went on the move again, transferring to the University of California at Berkeley in the fall of 1967. He graduated with Honors in the Spring of 1970.

In the fall of 1970, Henry attended Harvard Law School, this time staying put until he graduated in June of 1973 in the top 20% of the class.

Henry took the Bar in the Summer of 1973, passed and was sworn in December 20, 1973.

On January 22, 1974, he began his long career with the California Attorney General's Office and the rest can be tracked at "Bob Henry - A History of Qualifications."

Wife: Debrah Louise Smartt Henry, from Longview, Washington.

Children: Geoffrey Daniel Henry, BA Occidental College, Masters Program, Cal State Univ. L.A.; Roger Spencer Henry, AA, Pasadena City College, Bachelor's Program, Cal State Univ. L.A.