after he had left office. He is credited with founding the Center for the Study of Local Government, the first small-city research center in the United States, at St. John's University. The center, founded with a grant from the Ford Foundation, operated from 1968 to 1979. His successor as mayor, Al Loehr, who served from 1971 to 1980, credited Henry with laying the foundations for the development of St. Cloud's downtown area. Academic presidencies Henry was appointed the first male lay President of Saint Mary's College in March 1972, shortly after Saint Mary's ended a proposed merger with the University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame had begun admitting women in the early 1970s, which hurt Saint Mary's enrollment. Shortly after taking over the presidency, Henry told a local newspaper, "I would not have accepted the presidency if I didn't see a great future for Saint Mary's." He announced his resignation as president of Saint Mary's in January 1974. Enrollment at Saint Mary's College increased 150% during his administration. In 1976, Henry became president of Saint Michael's College, a Roman Catholic college in Colchester, Vermont, where he served as president until his retirement in 1985. His retirement from the academic world did not last long. He became the eighth president of Marian College in July 1986. Under his administration, enrollment increased at the college and the Townhouse Village residence facilities were constructed in 1988. Henry spearheaded the creation of the first graduate program at Marian and the implementation of an evening and weekend degree completion program. He left Marian in June 1989. He served as the interim President of Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina from 1989 to 1990. Author Henry authored two books, including Micropolis in Transition (1971), a study of St. Cloud. Death Henry died in Roseville, Minnesota, on September 30, 2010, aged 89. He was survived by nine children and two brothers. He was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, Elizabeth Anne "Betty" Henry, who died in 2004. Al Loehr, who became St. Cloud's oldest living former mayor upon Henry's death, said of his predecessor, "He was one of the most intelligent leaders I've known, and I've known a lot of them...I commend him. He was an exemplary leader and a great asset to me. That's the type of person he was — an outstanding public servant." St. Cloud's current mayor, Dave Kleis, who often received advice