James A. “Jim” Henry passed away October 7, 2025, at the Masonic Health Care Center, Elizabethtown, PA, after a long illness. He was born February 5, 1941, in East Orange, NJ, to Richard A. and Barbara (Cook) Henry. Jim grew up in Madison, NJ, and spent many summers while growing up on Cape Cod. He attended Morristown School, the University of Miami and Windham College; graduating from there in 1966 with a BS in Geology.
His love of the water and insatiable creative nature were evident from a very early age. His first “boat design” was an orange crate named “Tippsy Doodle.” He was 8. He continued to make boats, mostly kayaks, during his time at summer camp on the Cape and at college. Other early creations included the “invention” of dynamite in his NJ back yard.
After graduation, Jim worked as a marine geophysicist with a team of scientists under contract with the Navy mapping sections of the Pacific Ocean floor to aid in submarine navigation and gather information on the topography and composition of the sea floor.
Jim and Kathryn “Kay” Wilson were married in 1968. They moved to Waitsfield in 1970 and started Mad River Canoe (MRC) after Jim won the Men’s National Whitewater Open Canoe Championships in 1971 in the Malecite, a canoe he designed and made.
Under Jim’s stewardship, MRC became known as an industry leader in canoe design, innovative construction materials, and excellent quality. The company won many awards as manufacturers and their boats won many races. More important than the awards for Jim was knowing that his boats brought joy to so many people from recreational family outings, to fishing and hunting, to rigorous wilderness expeditions.
In 1990 Jim founded Mad River Decoy. Although he continued to design boats for MRC, he now focused on making rare and endangered seabird decoys to help relocate or reestablish seabird colonies. Using his creativity and extensive experience in boat manufacturing, he was able to take methods used in making canoes and apply them to producing decoys that were durable, lifelike and they worked!
He reconnected with Nancy Wiederhold in 2000 and they married in 2002. They worked together making decoys until 2016 when they donated the business to Audubon’s Seabird Institute. At that time, they were making over 30 different species that had been shipped all over the world.
In addition to being a pioneer in boat design, Jim was a gifted craftsman and found infinite joy in the creative process. More often than not his projects were inventive, visionary, and unique. Not all his creations were beautiful, but each had a purpose. One of his more unique inventions was the “Mad River Turd Hurler” which was made from Royalex (one of the materials used in making canoes) scraps and inferior canoe rails. Dog owners lucky enough to own one got much pleasure using them.
He shared his knowledge freely and was always ready to lend a hand. His willingness to help others, generous spirit and sense of humor have left a lasting mark on all who knew him.
Jim had many pastimes and interests. In addition to his whitewater canoe racing, he was an accomplished sailor – racing both Sailfish and his specially designed sailing canoes to many wins. He was an excellent photographer; made his own underwater camera cases as well as a telescope with camera attachment. He was fascinated by stereoptic photographs and, in addition to having a large collection of old cards and viewers, made a dual camera set up to make his own cards. He also collected just about anything that caught his interest. In the 1980s, he played on the Sugarbush Polo Club team. The Henrys and several other families on Spring Hill had a small maple sugar operation and every year when the sap started to run Jim used his four-wheeler, homemade trailer and specially rigged collection tank to gather each day’s yield. During his last few years in Waitsfield, one of his favorite social activities was hosting Tuesday night “Geezer Pool” where some pool was played, a lot of “health food” was consumed and the topics of discussion were infinite.
Hunting and fishing ranked high in Jim’s passions. His fly-fishing cast was a thing of beauty and his tied flies weren’t bad either. For many years he and Nancy would do an annual “fish camp” on Cape Cod. Jim hunted deer, moose and elk throughout the northern U.S. and Canada and enjoyed waterfowl hunting too. He had a deep love and appreciation of nature and time spent outdoors was very special to him.
One of Jim’s favorite places was the cottage on the shores of Lake Champlain in Isle La Motte. Purchased in 1974, it was a special place for the entire family. The accommodations were rustic but there was a sandy beach and plenty of space to play, paddle, party, and sail. In later years, Jim enjoyed sitting on the porch with his telescope “checking out” all the boats going by. He also loved to sail his canoe up and down in front of the cottage “racing” Canadian sailboats who of course had no idea they were in a race!
In August 2022 Jim and Nancy moved to the Masonic Village at Elizabethtown, in Elizabethtown, PA; a lovely retirement community on 1,400 acres of farmland, fields and forests with all the support services to age in place.
Jim was a proud Master Mason and member of the Abraham C. Treichler Lodge No. 682, Elizabethtown, PA
Jim is survived by his wife Nancy, daughter Carrie, son Dana and wife Kari, stepdaughter Kirsten and husband Joe and two “grandlittles,” Cody and Piper as well as his sister Barbara, many nieces and nephews and close friends. His brother Robert “Bob” predeceased him.
The family is deeply grateful to the staff at the Masonic Health Care Center for their care, compassion, support, and guidance.
In accordance with Jim’s wishes, there will be no public service, memorial or celebration of life. Instead, Jim expressed a heartfelt wish for family and friends to continue to honor him by doing random acts of kindness in his memory. Be creative, be kind and don’t hesitate to add a little humor if appropriate!
