Henry was a graduate of East High and Vanderbilt University. During college, he spent a year abroad at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, where he was a star basketball player. He made lifelong friends at Aberdeen and returned to Europe to visit them later in life. After college, he worked as a counselor at the Dallas Salesmanship Club Boys' Camp. During his two and a half years there, he helped teach kids outdoor skills like canoeing, camping, and fishing as well as life skills like teamwork and leadership. He loved telling his family about his adventures canoeing with the kids down the Trinity River.