Alumni Spotlight — John “Mike” Henry
B.S. 1972 — Engineering — College of Engineering
Fifty-two years ago this fall, Carbondale, Illinois Mayor John “Mike” Henry was a 17-year-old freshman from a small town outside of Peoria moving into a four-man dorm room in Warren Hall on the Carbondale campus. Today he is the proud owner of a 47-year-old local business, has three sons, two daughters, nine grandchildren, and is serving his second term as the mayor of Carbondale.
Henry arrived in Carbondale in 1967, to begin his studies as an engineering major, choosing SIU over the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, and another in-state school.
“I had decided I wanted to stay in Illinois and had qualified for scholarships at other institutions but ultimately accepted at SIU for a few reasons. First, was the incredible campus. At the time, the engineering building was brand new and state-of-the-art, and was just miles above anything I had seen on other campuses. And the second was the size of the campus and the town.”
Henry said his hometown had a population of approximately 2,600, and that the size of the population at the other campuses was a bit overwhelming.
“Initially I loved Carbondale because the town was much bigger that I was used to, and had the diverse population I was looking for, but it still felt, in many ways like a small town, so it wasn’t quite as intimidating for a 17-year-old,” Henry said.
Henry’s shared his Warren Hall room with three other men. He had never had roommates before and really enjoyed the experience.
“I lived in room 319. The rooms were immaculate, and looked out over the lake. That was a beautiful spot. I shared the room with two juniors and another freshman from near Peoria, Bill Rudd, who was also an engineering major and we became great friends. I loved the cafeteria-style dining because it made it really easy to meet more people in a very friendly setting,” Henry said.
During that first week, Henry also met the woman who would become his first wife, and after two years of dating they married.
“She was a Carbondale girl, and after we got married we ended up moving to Southern Hills student housing. While I missed some things about dormitory life, the change wasn’t really difficult for me. I was a very serious student. I took lots of chemistry and physics courses, and just loved it. I really was more focused on academics than extracurricular activities,” Henry said.
During his senior year Henry began working for his father-in law who ran a business making copies of theses and dissertations.
“That doesn’t sound like a whole lot of work in today’s terms, but you need to remember that was back in the day when those kinds of things had to be printed on an offset press. There were no Xerox machines so the process was a lot more labor intensive,” Henry said.
After graduating in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering, Henry fielded job offers from large corporations like Bechtel and McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing), before making the decision to stay in Carbondale.
“I visited their headquarters in Dallas and St. Louis, but I felt my family life would have suffered had we lived in those bigger cities. Carbondale was diverse, and welcoming, and it made better sense to raise my family in that environment. My three sons are all good men and that’s because of that decision,” Henry said.
Henry also ended up buying the business from his father-in-law.
“He gave me two years to pay it off but, I did so in less than a year. I started my company in the basement of a house at 321 West Walnut Street. The house is still there, but I had to find a bigger space fairly quickly because once I had employees other than myself, the City of Carbondale had some regulations about that.” Henry said.
From there, Henry’s business grew. He brought the first commercially available Xerox Machine to town, and evolved his company into a successful printing business which employs local talent and provides offset and digital printing, mailing preparation, desktop publishing, graphic design, and related services, to individuals, businesses and community organizations throughout southern Illinois.
During this time, Henry and his first wife divorced, and after a few years as a single man, he met and married Terri Walters.
Together Mike and Terri raised a blended family which includes three sons (Sean, Brian and Matt); two daughters (Krystal and Michael); and nine grandchildren.
And then, in 2015, Mike ran for mayor of the City of Carbondale.
“There was a call for leadership from the community, and I was approached by several people who knew I had local ties and the business experience they felt Carbondale needed. Terri and I had settled into the home we bought in anticipation of retirement, and I felt I had the time and energy to really contribute something,” Henry said.
Henry said at that time, Carbondale had finished working with another set of consultants to formulate a plan to revitalize the downtown area.
“Over the years I had seen three or four different plans come together, but not much had been done in the way of implementing them. At the time, City Council meetings seemed to have become a place to air grievances, rather than conduct the people’s business. I ran because I wanted to see things get done,” Henry said.
Henry not only got things done, but ran again, and won, a second term in 2019 with the intention of making sure projects he helped to get started were finished.
“And I say help, because right now, we are fortunate to have a city council committed to working as an effective team to serve the people of Carbondale. Together we represented Carbondale on the national stage during the 2017 eclipse activities, and have overseen the return of safe and successful street festivals, including Halloween, to downtown,” Henry said.
Henry also touts the funding and implementing the first two phases of the Downtown Streetscape plan, the passing of four balanced budgets, increasing the city’s energy efficiency, and establishing a closer relationship with the administration of SIU Carbondale and Southern Illinois Healthcare among the successes of his administration.
“I am so pleased at our ability to work together to advance the revitalization of Carbondale. I think we have been able to present a more welcoming face to the students that come here to be part of our community,” Henry said.
As to our Saluki students, Henry said that he would encourage them to explore all that the region has to offer.
“I would tell them to immerse themselves not just in their studies and the city, but in the surrounding area. Go explore the Shawnee forest and all of its amazing possibilities. Go ziplining, swimming, hiking and fishing. This is one of the most beautiful regions in the country and for the years you are here, it’s right in your backyard,” Henry said.
According to his campaign website, Mike’s former and current community service, includes volunteer and leadership positions with the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce (president, 1984; executive committee and foundation board); the Carbondale Planning Commission; the Carbondale Citizens Advisory Board; Carbondale United Way; Carbondale Towne Central (charter member); Carbondale Main Street; Carbondale First United Methodist Church; Boys and Girls Club of Carbondale; Shawnee Solar Project; and the Carbondale United Way. Mike also was among the community leaders who founded Carbondale Tourism, as a branch of the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce.
Mike and his wife Terri also support various organizations through their charitable giving: Boys and Girls Club of Carbondale, Poshard Foundation, The Women’s Center, Carbondale Community Arts, Carbondale Lights Fantastic, SIU Foundation, Good Samaritan House, Varsity Center for the Arts, Carbondale Park District, CCHS Foundation, SIH Foundation, First United Methodist Church Building Fund, Newman Center and others.
The SIU Alumni Spotlight celebrates our Saluki Alumni, their successes, and their memories of their time at SIU Carbondale.
If you’d like to be the focus of this weekly feature, or nominate someone to be featured, please get in touch with the SIU Alumni Association, or email us at alumni.siu.edu.
