Aug. 27, 1934 – April 27, 2014
He relished making deals, but also giving back
He would give you the shirt off of his back, and he would tell you a joke while doing it.
That was Henry Humphrey, owner of Humphrey’s Market in Springfield. A dedicated, hardworking businessman and philanthropist, Henry Humphrey died on April 27, 2014, at the age of 79, leaving behind a legacy of generosity – both in deeds and in spirit.
William Henry Humphrey was born Aug. 27, 1934, in Springfield. His parents, Elzie Humphrey Sr. and Leota Smith Humphrey, started Humphrey’s Market in the 1930s, and Henry took over the family business in 1967 with his wife, Iona Humphrey.
Henry and Iona’s courtship sounds like something out of a movie: his brother was married to her sister, and they soon hit it off. They married in 1955, on a trip to Corinth, Mississippi, while Iona was riding with Henry to pick up a load of produce to sell at the store. A judge performed their wedding at the local courthouse, and they were married for 59 years.
“Every other trip, I would ride with him to pick up some fruit or vegetables,” Iona recalled fondly. “We were together for all those years.”
Henry had an uncommon energy and goodness about him, Iona says, and he never knew a stranger. She said more than 400 people who showed up for Henry’s wake couldn’t get in because the building was already full of friends.
“He’d talk to a rich man and then a poor man, just like they were the same,” Iona said. “He had friends in all walks of life.”
Shortly before his death, Henry received a visit from former Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, who passed away earlier this month.
“They sat on the tailgate and ate cantaloupe and just talked,” said Hope Humphrey, one of Henry and Iona’s daughters who still helps manage the family business.
Henry took great pride in the store, the only independent family-owned grocery in Springfield.
“He loved his job,” Hope said. “When you love what you do, you put your life into it.”
Henry not only put his life into the store; it was his life. When he was only a teenager, he began driving hundreds of miles at a time to pick up produce, even dropping out of school to drive with the blessing of his father. He continued driving until 1990, all the while looking for new products to test and sell. Iona says Henry loved offering customers fruit or veggies from a new vendor to taste in the store – part of his devotion to customer service.
JoAnn’e Glatfelter says she has known Henry since they were both “little bitty.” Her family lived just down the street from Humphrey’s Market, and she and Henry went to Iles School, which is visible from the market’s parking lot.
JoAnn’e says Henry was “very, very kind” and loved children. Active with the Ansar Shrine in Springfield, Henry would often give tickets for the annual Ansar Shrine Circus to families with children, she says.
Henry’s kindness is reflected in “the generosity and goodhearted spirit of the Humphrey family,” JoAnn’e said. That’s
immediately apparent to visitors at Humphrey’s Market, as Iona and Hope drop everything to help someone. For them, kindness seems to come naturally, as it did for Henry.
Rex Cusumano, who owns a produce distribution business with his sons in Mt. Vernon, says Henry was a “real-life John Wayne” who told it like it is and always did the right thing. A portrait of John Wayne even hangs in the office at Humphrey’s Market, near a painting of Henry’s parents, Elzie and Leota Humphrey.
“He was a prince of a man, with a real heart of gold,” Rex said.
Rex first heard of Henry in the 1970s at the St. Louis Produce Market, where hundreds of vendors and buyers gather early in the morning to make deals. Henry would pull in with his whistle-clean Kenworth semi truck, Rex says, and everyone would take notice.
“You’d hear a whisper going down the line: ‘Humphrey’s on the market,’ ” Rex said.
Everyone enjoyed working with Henry, Rex says, because he knew how to put a deal together, but he did it with integrity.
“He would never take advantage of a shipper,” Rex said. “I saw him give returns to guys much more generous than they deserved. He was just a tremendous role model.”
In addition to Henry’s fairness in deals, Rex admires Henry’s decision to maintain the family business in a neighborhood that otherwise would have very few other businesses.
“He could have gone anywhere, but he stayed there,” Rex said. “That family made a huge financial commitment there. I really respect him for that, and I think the people in the neighborhood appreciate it.”
Rex and Iona both said Henry was “one of a kind.”
“They broke the mold with him,” Iona said. “They really did.”
Contact Patrick Yeagle at pyeagle@illinoistimes.com.
