IN MEMORIAM:

Dr. Albert Leon McHenry, PhD., passed away peacefully with family by his side on September 9, 2024. He was 83. Albert was born March 12, 1941, in Ruston, Louisiana, the eldest child of Albert Augusta McHenry, a school principal and respected community leader, and Irma Giles McHenry, a homemaker and a devoted mother renowned for her Southern cooking and tireless community service. Albert Leon came to faith at a young age at New Hope Baptist Church in Ruston. Moved ahead a grade early in his schooling, Albert graduated as Class President and Salutatorian from Lincoln High School in 1958. His early years were spent excelling academically and musically, where he competed as a soloist in concert choir, athletically on the baseball diamond, and serving as mentor to his younger siblings Clyde and Hattie.

With many academic avenues closed in the segregated South, Albert Leon began his college education at Southern University in Baton Rouge, an HBCU, where, after being inspired by the advent of the Space Race, he changed his major from chemistry after one semester to Electronics Engineering and Technology. Al excelled in college, becoming a proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated, Beta Sigma Chapter, ultimately serving as chapter president. He later affiliated with the graduate chapter in Baton Rouge and was recognized as the Lambda Alpha Chapter’s Omega Man of the Year in 1973. In 1960, Albert met the love of his life, fellow Southern University undergraduate Annette Bostick, a dynamic and brilliant student leader and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. He graduated in June of 1962 and immediately landed a position with Boeing’s Sat- urn Rocket Booster Branch in New Orleans. Al and Annette united in holy matrimony in December of 1962. Their mar- riage was blessed with two daughters, Janet and Joan, to whom Albert was a wise and devoted father, just as his fa- ther had been to him.

After Janet’s birth in 1964, the young parent was approached by Southern University’s Dean of Engineering and Technology with an offer of an emergency teaching position in the Electronics Department, starting immediately. After sleeping on it, Al accepted, relocated his family to Baton Rouge, and his extraordinary, deeply impactful, and far-reaching career in higher education was born.

In 1975, after more than a decade of success at Southern University—Albert as a faculty member and Annette in student affairs as assistant dean of women—the couple decided to further their academic credentials to enhance their careers as educators. They chose Arizona State University in Tempe for their advanced studies. Albert earned his M.S. in Technology in 1976 and a Ph.D. in 1980. Annette completed her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration in 1982 at ASU.

He retired in 2008, having risen to Executive Vice Pro-vost and Vice President.
In 1986, Dr. McHenry be-came a charter member of the Gamma Mu Boulé of Phoenix, part of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, the nation’s oldest predominantly African American fraternal organization.

Dr. McHenry’s deep love for both music and his family led to one of his greatest joys in his later years. In 2008, he formed the McHenry Singers, a family gospel group featuring Annette, Janet, Joan, Janet’s husband Marc Parker, and their talented piano accompanist and close family friend, Mary Frances Clay. The group recorded an album in 2010 and performed at numerous community events until Marc’s untimely passing in 2014. Even after the group’s active years, the music continued to bring Dr. McHenry peace and comfort until his final moments.

Memorial and Burial Services at 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, October 12, at Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery & Funeral Home, 1562 E. Baseline Road, Mesa. That will be followed by Celebration of Life and luncheon from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Arizona State University, Poly- technic Campus, Student Union, Cooley Ballroom, 7001 E. Williams Field Road, Mesa.