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Judge Henry's influence lives on
(by Dave Lange - June 01, 2011)
COUNTY LINE, BY DAVE LANGE
Judge Henry's influence lives on
Journalists aren't supposed to be friends with politicians. In reporting and editing the news, we have to remain independent, and we must not create any appearances that might compromise our objectivity. But I couldn't help it.
I first met Charles "Chip" Henry in the fall of 1988. He was 30 years old and was entering politics with a campaign for a seat in the Ohio Senate. I was 38 and had recently become editor of the Chagrin Valley Times and the Solon Times.
Chip, as he was known to just about everybody in Geauga County and many others beyond the place where he grew up and lived his life, stopped in our office and expressed confidence about the Senate race. He was young, inexperienced and a Republican. The 32nd Ohio Senate District at that time included Geauga County, which was mostly Republican, but most of its constituency was in heavily Democratic Trumbull County. He was challenging four-term, well-entrenched Democratic state Sen. Tom Carney. Clearly, he was the underdog.
But Mr. Henry ran an energetic, enthusiastic campaign. He met face to face with people throughout the district, and they couldn't help but like him. Perhaps Mr. Carney and his party were overconfident. They certainly underestimated their challenger. When the votes were counted that November, the 32nd District had a new senator.
Four years later, I knew Mr. Henry as a very good legislator, but I did not yet know him as a friend. In endorsing him that fall, I wrote that he had served his constituents "admirably" and that he deserved re-election. But the Democratic Party did not get caught off guard again. It launched a vigorous campaign to get Trumbull County Commissioner Anthony Latell Jr. elected to the Senate, and Mr. Henry became a one-term state senator.
After a brief stint in the public defender's office, he was appointed in 1993 by then-Gov. George Voinovich to succeed the late Judge Frank G. Lavrich as Geauga County juvenile and probate judge. It's hard to imagine anyone more suited for the job. For the past 18 years, Judge Henry has served the children of Geauga County with a balance of toughness and compassion.
But about that friendship. Chip and his wife, Linda, and I and my wife, Linda, just happened to have sons of the same age, Charles Adam Henry and Erik David Lange, who became inseparable friends as students and athletes at Kenston High School. Like father, like son, they say, and our sons had a great deal in common.
The Langes and the Henrys spent many days together as enthusiastic fans of our high school track team. We shared dinners, graduations, weddings, Fourth of July fireworks and beer. Last October, we shared rafts on the white water of the Gauley River in West Virginia. We shared a love for adventure and an appreciation for God's green earth.
More than that, Mr. Henry has been like a second father to our son. He's been there when Erik needed extra advice, another point of view, words of encouragement or words to the wise. I know that many other young people also benefited from his friendship and guidance.
Chip Henry died last week doing something he loved, riding his bicycle on a country road in Geauga County. But his influence will go forward with those whose paths crossed his on the road of life.
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