Class of 1961
(Notes posted in the order they were received, with the newest posts on top.)
Jon Rickert died June 9, 2008 at his home in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Jon earned his undergraduate degree in business and economics in 1958 from Indiana University, and after earning his law degree at Vanderbilt, he began his 30-year career in the general practice of law in Elizabethtown. From 1968-1972, he served with distinction in the Kentucky General Assembly, representing the 25th District. He was not only voted by the news media as the most outstanding freshman legislator, but he also sponsored Kentucky's first "truth-in-lending" law and led the fight in Kentucky’s state capital, Frankfort, and in Washington, D.C. to save the Red River Gorge. A dedicated birder and naturalist, Jon wrote the Nature Preserves Act, which established the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, and he served as its chairman from 1976-1988. He acted as special advisor on environmental affairs to Kentucky Governor Julian Carroll and was a member of the Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission. In 1973, he was a founding member of the American Birding Association and he also served as the organization's attorney. In 1978, he wrote and published A Guide to North American Bird Clubs. He was a life member of The Nature Conservancy. Throughout his life, Jon traveled to Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Nova Scotia, United Kingdom, and all 50 states on birding trips. In 2004, he was selected by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to join the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker search team in the swamps of Arkansas for a two-week expedition. Jon is survived by his wife, Bobbie, their son and two daughters, and five grandchildren.
Posted on web 8-26-08
John H. Henderson is retiring after serving for 17 years as a public defender for the 21st Judicial District. Before becoming a public defender, John was an attorney in private practice in Franklin, Tennessee, from 1961-1966 and 1972-1989 and served as general counsel to Tennessee River Pulp and Paper Company from 1966-1972. John and his wife, Nell, have two children; John H. Henderson III, who is an attorney, and Loyd T. Henderson, who is a loan officer; and four grandchildren. They live in Franklin, Tennessee.
Do you have news you would like to share or just want to let everyone know what you are up to these days? Submit your class note online, e-mail Grace Renshaw or call 615-322-2606.
Please check the "Alumni MIA" list to see if you can help us find any of your "lost" classmates!
