Henry Cecil Mead was born to Rufus Clyde Mead and Ina Imo (Cardinal) Mead on January 19, 1909, near Allison, Iowa, and passed away on July 6, 1994, at Seward, Nebraska at the age of 85 years, 5 months, and 17 days.

Henry attended Grade School in Allison, Iowa, before moving to Isle, Minnesota, in 1922 with his parents and graduating from High School in 1925. He attended Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 1925 to 1927 where he was on the honor roll and the swimming team.

During High School, Henry started his career in journalism by working after school and on Saturdays for the Isle Messenger, where he worked until 1938. He was united in marriage to Evelyn Josephine Lyngen at Moose Lake, Minnesota, on January 16, 1936. They moved to Aitkin, Minnesota, in 1938 when Henry became the editor of the Independent Age.

He formed a partnership with A.C. (Tony) Klee and E.H. (Ed) Engquist to buy the Independent Age in 1939 and in the Fall of 1949 sold his interest and bought the Seward County Independent from William H. Smith on November 1, 1949. Henry bought the Blue Valley Blade, the Ulysses Dispatch, and the Utica Sun in 1955 and absorbed them into the Seward County Independent. The Aitkin Independent Age was purchased in 1962 from his previous partners.

His newspaper career spanned nearly 70 years and did not end with the sale of the Seward County Independent in 1976. In 1980, as a retirement project, he created a one-man dramatic program entitled, "O. Henry, Master of the Short Story." He presented 102 performances for various groups in Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, North Carolina, and Florida.

Henry was an active member of both the Minnesota Newspaper Association and the Nebraska Press Association. Henry was a veteran of World War II, serving in the U.S. Army and after the war was an accredited journalist with the U.S. Department of Defense.

He was very active in both Minnesota and Nebraska with City Council, Junior Chamber of Commerce, Fair Board, Airport Commission, Kiwanis Club, Magazine Club, Chamber of Commerce, and the United Methodist Church in Seward.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Harold. Henry is survived by his wife, Evelyn; his son, Curtis, of Boston, Massachusetts; his daughter, Evonne Agnello, of Tacoma, Washington, and his grandson, Adam Agnello, of Tacoma; other relatives and a host of friends.

To this short obituary we add our many memories of life shared with Henry.