Henry was the only child of Dr. Solomon Werch and Agnes Sosnovik Werch. Born in the Logan Square area of Chicago, he grew up in Rogers Park, before the family moved to Miami, FL during Henry’s high school years. After high school, Henry returned to Chicago and first worked in a liquor store, where he cultivated his life-long interest in wine. He then entered the consumer electronics field, employed for nearly three decades in sales, marketing, and management for high-fidelity and computer-related firms. In 2004, Henry earned his M.S. in Human Services Administration from Spertus College, while directing program activities for the Palatine Township Senior Center. In addition to his professional careers, Henry was an active volunteer in community government. For the Village of Deer Park, he served on the planning commission from 1982-1989, and as an elected trustee from 1989-2004. He also sat on the Meadows Credit Union board of directors.

In 1970, Henry married Judith Gelinas, who died of breast cancer in 1996; they had no children. He married his second wife, Stephanie Reith, in 1997, and they celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary just three weeks before his death. With both Judy and Stephanie, Henry regularly indulged his passion for domestic and international travel.

In 2004, Henry and Stephanie moved to Port Townsend, WA (“while still young and healthy enough to have an adventure”), where they lived for 11 years. Henry once again became involved in local planning and also served on the board of the local food co-op. In 2016, they moved to Portland, OR, where Henry volunteered with the Jewish federation, as well as serving as patient representative to a local health care system. They moved back to Chicago in September 2026 to independent/assisted living, as Henry’s health declined.

Henry’s Jewish heritage was an essential part of his being. While he did not consider himself observant or religious, he was thoroughly committed to Jewish ethical and social justice principles, intensely interested in Jewish culture and learning, deeply immersed in Ashkenazic culinary practice, generous in his giving to philanthropic causes, and was a passionate and loudly verbal practitioner of Talmudic debate. In his later years, he engaged in weekly Torah and Talmud study, and participated in committees sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. He taught himself to make challah, made the absolute best chicken soup, and was a master at traditional chopped liver, rendering his own schmaltz and frying up gribenes.

Henry is survived by his wife, Stephanie (Tivona) Reith; stepdaughter Shauna Reith; cousins Shifra Werch, Masha Werch Ferrara, Deb Porter, and Evan Schlaes; sisters-in-law Sandra Gelinas and Theresa Leyes; and brother-in-law Christopher Reith.