Island Icon - Kirk Henry

By Cate Gregory, Coronado Historical Association Intern

Photos Courtesy of Kirk Henry

“Happy memories occur here all the time,” is what Kirk Henry first thinks when he recalls life in Coronado. While he didn’t grow up here, he has grown to love Coronado and has made a meaningful impact on this community through his work with the Coronado Roundtable.

Kirk Henry was born in 1941 in Meridian, Mississippi. His father worked for the Boy Scouts of America when Henry was born, but paused his work to serve in the United States Navy for four years during World War II. After the war, Henry’s family moved to Memphis, Tennessee where his father continued his work for the Boy Scouts and Henry became an Eagle Scout himself. He went on to graduate from Washington and Lee University in Virginia with an ROTC Army commission. Kirk reminisced on how he enjoyed the competitive energy the school brought forth both academically and socially.

After serving in the Army in the Panama Canal zone during non-combat circumstances, he became a corporate lobbyist. He spent thirty years working for a Fortune 50 company that owned four thousand retail stores and consumer lending offices, a major credit card company, an insurance company, a Fortune 500 manufacturing company, National Car

Rental, and a small airlines in Alaska. It was, as Kirk stated, “an investment banker’s dream.” During his career, Kirk worked in a variety of different legislatures including Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska before moving to corporate headquarters in the Chicago area. He eventually became the head of his government relations department and retired in 1995 at the age of fifty-five. He states that the most memorable aspect of his career was, “Over an extended period of time improving the laws and regulations concerning the consumer lending industry.”

Kirk has been happily married to his wife, Barbara, for fifty-five years. They have two sons, as well as two grandchildren, with whom he enjoys spending time in Coronado. After looking for a house for over two years, Kirk and his wife purchased a condo in Coronado in 1999 the first day they saw it. That night Kirk and his wife went out to eat at Mexican Village to celebrate.

After moving to Coronado, Kirk quickly joined the Coronado Roundtable because it was a good way to meet new people and challenge himself. The Coronado Roundtable is an organization for retired or semiretired people. They meet once a month on

the fourth Friday in the Coronado Library’s Winn Room to hear from a variety of guest speakers. Kirk described the Roundtable’s mission as, “[To] provide interesting and wide-ranging, informative, and discussable programs. We seek input. We have a thirteen person board, which spends quite a bit of time assessing prospective speakers and their topics.” After serving as a board member since 2005, Kirk Henry was the president of this organization for the past five-and-a-half years, from May 2019 to the end of 2022. Kirk stated that his favorite parts of being president of the Coronado Roundtable were calling the meeting to order, introducing the speaker, and leading the Pledge of Allegiance. His favorite speaker so far has been Charles Martoglio, a United States Navy retired vice admiral. At this meeting, Martoglio discussed the regional and global implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Kirk found particularly interesting due to the many matters Martoglio discussed not being readily available online, at that time. The Roundtable has featured many other speakers discussing a variety of topics, including Roberto Alcantor, an SDG&E public affairs manager; Tina Friend, Coronado city manager; Stacy Moy, an FBI special agent in San Diego; and Thomas Reott, Consul General in Tijuana. Kirk has found that the Roundtable has affected his life and values, as it has held him to a higher level of appearance and preparation. The Roundtable has three hundred and fifty members and through them has been able to disseminate information on a wide variety of topics.

When Kirk is not at the Roundtable, you can find him spending time with the Optimist Club, Coronado Point Condo Association, and Nado Money Men. He has even served as a board member for the Optimist Club and is the current inspector of elections for the Coronado Point Condo Association. Aside from volunteering for these organizations, Kirk enjoys traveling with his wife, playing golf, bridge, and reading.

Kirk has lived an interesting life in and outside of Coronado. Not only has he had a successful career, but he has continued his love of learning during retirement with his work for the Coronado Roundtable, as well as spending quality time with his loving wife, sons, and grandchildren. His kindness and persistence have shined in Coronado, and his memories here, like many of our own, are irreplaceable.