Oliver Carl Henkel

Oliver “Pudge” Henkel passed away on August 25, 2025 in his home in Cleveland Heights, OH after a lengthy battle against non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Throughout his last week, Pudge was surrounded by his immediate family members, sharing love and laughter, engaging in epic storytelling, savoring time gathered around the dining room table and warmed by the sun of beautiful late summer days enjoying his gardens around the pool. 

Born in White Plains, NY, Pudge was raised in Mansfield, OH, a community infused with all the grit and potential epitomized by the booming post-World War II Midwest. Pudge’s core values of consistent effort and hard work, unwavering positive attitude, selfless contribution to team outcomes, faithful commitment and loyalty, unflagging integrity and evenhanded fairness were all honed growing up in Mansfield. With brothers, Steve and Rick, and younger sister, Karla, the Henkel house in the country was the setting for an idyllic childhood where activities included playing hockey on the frozen pond, raising chickens and shooting skeet. Endless hours of play and competition shaped Pudge into a terrific athlete. During the mid-1950’s, Pudge was a high school football star, playing quarterback for the Mansfield Tygers at Arlin Field on Friday nights under the lights. Youthful summers allowed Pudge to develop a scratch golf game which propelled him to significant tournament successes.

Pudge’s gifted intelligence, academic achievement and seeking intellectual curiosity led him to Yale University in the Fall of 1954. At Yale, Pudge’s horizons, in all respects, were broadened, ambitions and goals were formulated and lifelong friendships were forged. Pudge continued his athletic career in college, playing varsity football and golf. His signature collegiate athletic achievement occurred during the 1957 football season against Harvard in The Game at the Yale Bowl when he scored the final touchdown to make the score 54-0, to this day representing the greatest margin of victory for Yale against Harvard. 

After completing his NROTC undergraduate requirements and upon college graduation in 1958, Pudge entered the Navy for three years from 1958-1961. Stationed in Newport, RI and then in San Francisco, CA aboard the U.S.S. Mahan, Pudge served as a Guided Missile Officer, a position which afforded the opportunity, at a young age, to develop critical leadership skills which he utilized through the course of his life.

Following his service in the Navy, Pudge returned to New Haven, CT to attend the Yale Law School. Among his many enriching academic pursuits, Pudge thrived as a director in Moot Court. During law school, Pudge played semi-professional football for the Ansonia Black Knights, utilizing his meager paychecks to help offset tuition and honing his burgeoning legal skills to assist teammates who occasionally ran afoul of the law.

Pudge decided to return to Ohio to begin his Trusts and Estates practice in Cleveland after he graduated from law school. From 1964-2006, first as a Partner at Jones Day and then at Thompson Hine, Pudge built a respected practice serving clients in all financial matters. Pudge took great pride in helping multi-generational clients navigate and resolve critical and complex estate issues, and he was a valued advisor and confidant. 

A brief interlude in his law practice came in 1983 when Pudge accepted the offer of his Yale Law School classmate and friend, Gary Hart, to become the national Campaign Manager for Hart’s 1984 presidential run. For most of 1983-1984, Pudge commuted to Washington DC to run Hart’s successful, underdog, underfunded and undermanned campaign which culminated in a runner-up finish to the eventual Democratic Party nominee, Walter Mondale.

After his retirement from Thompson Hine, Pudge’s call to service led him to the Cleveland Clinic where, from 2006-2013, he was the Chief External Affairs Officer and member of the CEO’s Executive Team, leading the Clinic’s efforts in community relations locally and statewide and in health care policy issues nationally. He was one of a select few from major health care institutions to work with the Obama Administration to assist in crafting the landmark Affordable Care Act.

Perhaps Pudge’s greatest fulfillment came from his extraordinary involvement in and commitment to Cleveland’s civic endeavors and urban renewal efforts. Starting in the late 1960’s, when Pudge and Sally and family lived in Warrensville Heights, OH during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, Pudge ran for City Council motivated primarily to help foster fairness and tolerance in the evolving racial diversity of the city. Later, in 1972, Pudge was a key player in saving the demolition of the Ohio and State Theaters at Playhouse Square, and he then served as the first President of the Playhouse Square Foundation. His leadership of Playhouse Square remained a lifelong commitment and stands as a crowning achievement in sustaining the lifeblood of Cleveland’s cultural preeminence internationally. In the early 1990’s, Pudge was the Chairman of the Gateway Economic Development Corporation which successfully enabled the financing for the construction of the baseball stadium and the basketball arena at the Gateway, providing Cleveland’s professional teams and their fans with world class facilities. Most recently, Pudge served on the Board of NewBridge, a non-profit organization which provides educational programs and workforce training for students in Cuyahoga County, a mission to which he was deeply committed.

Above all else for the entirety of his life, Pudge loved his immediate and extended family, including in-laws and nieces and nephews, who sustained him completely. The origin story of Pudge’s family life began in Mansfield as a young boy with the Henkels and Houts, close family friends. Among the three Hout children was Sally, four years Pudge’s junior. By the time high school and college rolled around, Pudge began to see Sally in a bit of a different light, no longer just the young Hout girl tagging along on family gatherings. Throughout college and the Navy, Pudge would return to Mansfield principally to see Sally as their relationship began to blossom. After Sally graduated from Northwestern University in 1962, she moved to New York City to work and to be closer to New Haven where Pudge was studying at the Yale Law School. Pudge and Sally married in March 1963 and their storybook 62 year marriage was launched with roots which extended even deeper.

For Pudge, the stars revolved around Sally’s orbit. He was the most devoted partner and husband, and together they created an unshakeable foundation for their family, which grew to include sons Peter, Ben and David. As a father, Pudge put nothing above his three boys. Weekends were spent throwing footballs, fielding ground balls and doing chores around the house. He was home routinely during the work week for family dinner and never missed one of the boys’ games through high school and college. Pudge’s love for Sally set an unmistakable example for his boys, and his commitment to his sons was a pillar of strength for them. In particular, when Ben faced his medical challenges, Pudge guided and supported him in ways impossible to articulate or quantify adequately. He was, simply, an incredible husband and father. 

Pudge’s dedication to and love for his family ultimately extended to his daughters-in-law, Eleni and Lisa, and six grandchildren, Matthew, Lexi, Nicky, Jake, Brooke and Hayes. Pudger, to his grandchildren, was an equally amazing and adoring grandfather, showing up for every event, relating to them at every level, gently dispensing sage wisdom, providing a safe harbor and offering his love without condition. 

In later life, Pudge and Sally continued to delight in each other’s company, two sides of the same coin. They thoroughly enjoyed keeping a beautiful home and cared for their elegant gardens. They hosted unrivaled dinner parties with the most interesting and eclectic guests and remained the couple to whom friends turned in times of need for support. Pudge and Sally loved time spent in the winter in Vero Beach, FL at John’s Island where Pudge was committed to exercising with irrepressible vigor, to walking the beach soaking up the sun and salt air and to reading with the ocean’s crashing waves providing the soundtrack. At home, Pudge became a tomato farmer of some renown. Over decades, he perfected his craft in his garden where he fended off animal marauders and tended his plants with great care. Friends and neighbors eagerly anticipated a delivery of Pudge’s Maglia Rosa, Purple Cherokee and Chocolate Stripe tomatoes. The outdoor Shaker Square Farmers Market was an unmovable commitment every Saturday morning where Pudge found community among farmers, vendors and friends. Pudge’s time was always spent, until the very end of his life, giving, building, nurturing, growing, caring and connecting. The threads he wove through the lives of everyone within his view will hold firm but will miss the knot that kept it all tied so lovingly together. 

Oliver Carl Henkel was predeceased in death by his son Ben (2014). He is survived by his wife Sally, sons Peter (Eleni) and David (Lisa) and by his grandchildren Matthew, Lexi, Nicky, Jake, Brooke and Hayes. 

Any contributions may be made in Pudge’s memory to the Playhouse Square Foundation  (www.playhousesquare.org) and NewBridge Cleveland  (www.newbridgecleveland.org)                                                                                 

A Memorial Service will be held at 3pm on Monday October 20, 2025 at Plymouth Church at 2860 Coventry Road, Shaker Heights, OH 44120. Reception at the church to follow. The service will be livestreamed and accessible through the church website  (www.plymouthchurchucc.org) or directly on the Plymouth Church UCC YouTube channel.