“George Henry does not seek the limelight, although one will often find him there.”  George Henry was a remarkable personality, that Camp Courageous was blessed to have called a friend, since the Camp’s beginning.  George started supporting Camp Courageous in 1974, when the first campers came through the gates.  Charlie Cummins, Tait & Dotty Cummins’ son was among those first 211 campers during the summer of ‘74.  Tait and Dotty were good friends with George, particularly Dotty, with her love for photography, especially black & white.  I first remember George at the 1980 Pineapple Gala.  He took brilliant pictures of all 83-tables of ten Camp friends, and dozens of pictures capturing the evening. Over the years Camp Courageous accumulated countless Camp picture books, gifts from George.

George Henry set many records in his day, and passing at the age of 101, there were more opportunities than normal.  He was a veteran, serving in the Army Air Corp piloting the B24 over Italy and Austria until the end of WWII.  George started his photography hobby after returning from the War in 1946, when he bought a Kodak Medalist camera in downtown Cedar Rapids.  George loved his white-water rafting trips for 45-years, down some of the most challenging rivers in Utah and Colorado.  After more than 350-multi-day trips and 25,000 river miles, he laid claim to unique friendships with passengers like Bobby & Ethel Kennedy, John Glenn, Jim Whitaker (the first American to summit Mount Everest), Andy Williams, Art Buchwald (American humorist) and others.  He was eventually fired from the rafting job after 45-years, (2000) because the insurance company would no longer insure him, because of his age.  He was Coe College’s photographer for nearly 70-years!  He developed film for about a decade when WMT discontinued that service.  At the time of his death, he was recognized as the longest serving and oldest Optimist Club Member (74-years)!  His later years were spent at Cottage Grove Place, where he continued to do art shows and display his works.  I will always treasure the hours we spent visiting about his incredible experiences photographing Martin Luther King at Coe, Bob Kennedy on campaign in Marion, George Bush, Louis Armstrong, and so many others.  Like Dotty Cummins, George was a wonderful storyteller.  Through his art of photography, George Henry left a legacy that will last forever.  Truly a life well lived!  -Charlie Becker