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Gators, Places And Apothecary Accents

Tampa Tribune staff photo/Greg Fight.

J. Myrle Henry, who had his own pharmacy business in Plant City, is now the pharmacist at the new Sweetbay supermarket on N. Wheeler St.

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By JAN HOLLINGSWORTH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 21, 2007

Updated: 11/19/2007 09:22 pm

PLANT CITY When Myrle Henry built the house on Johnson Road 44 years ago, he said he would never build another.

The 10-acre homestead off James L. Redman Parkway suited the uncomplicated needs of the mild-mannered pharmacist, who, along with wife, Tomi, raised two daughters and the occasional cow there.

Times change, though. And when a developer made Henry an offer he couldn't refuse, he sold the home that had anchored his life and set out to build another.

Thursday he will spend his first Thanksgiving in the new home he calls "simply country."

"There are many much finer houses in Plant City," he said. "The Lord has blessed us with this one."

Henry isn't one to take annual stock of his blessings. He tends to count them each day.

The house that Henry built is a monument to his faith and his history, carefully constructed of the many pieces of his life.

From the University of Florida pavers on his walkway and the Bible verse above his front door, to the hat rack in the foyer and the drugstore-themed Norman Rockwells on his walls, the new home on Keene Road north of town personifies the sensibilities of the man who brought the Strawberry Classic Car Show, the Florida Opry and a seminary to town.

God, Gators, travel and history - these are the passions of Myrle Henry - aided and abetted by Tomi, his high school sweetheart.

"I kind of encouraged it," she said of the collectibles, many of which had been tucked away for years in nooks and crannies and boxes at the old house.

In fact, it was Tomi Henry who set about collecting mascots of UF rivals to add to the mix.

The new house, like the old one, contains a designated room for all things Gator. This one is bigger, though, with plenty of room for the many reptilian souvenirs the Henrys have accrued over the years.

"Every time I go, there's something else there," said the Henrys' son-in-law Kevin Ennis, who became an honorary member of the Gator Nation eight years ago when he married their eldest daughter, Cheri.

"You almost have to be a Gator to be part of the family," he quipped.

The journey into Henry's world begins with Gators - cemented in the walkway, painted on the front door knocker, spinning from a rooftop weathervane.

Yet another jaunty Gator pushes a wheelbarrow filled with flowers on the front porch.

Inside, the deep blue walls and orange trim of the Gator room frame what Henry calls "my pride and joy" - a custom Gator-themed stained glass window created by a Cedar Key artist.

Although the University of Florida artifacts represent Henry's whimsical side, his extensive collection of pharmaceutical knickknacks speak to his vocation of nearly half a century. He received his degree in pharmacy from the university in 1961.

The guest bathroom is imbedded with decorative tiles presented to Henry over the years as premiums from drug companies and stashed in boxes for safekeeping at the old downtown Magnolia Pharmacy. Henry sold the business in 2000 but hung onto the tiles.

"I didn't know what I was saving them for at the time," he said.

"I didn't even know he had those," said daughter Cheri, who said she has been inspired by her father's eclectic interests and sentiment for keepsakes.

"Even if he wasn't my dad, he's been a real inspirational person in my life," she said.

A giant portrait of magnolia flowers, for instance, hangs over the Henrys' bed in tribute to the old family business.

The pharmacist also kept hundreds of relics from the old drugstore days: fanciful mortars and pestles, colorful medicine bottles with ground glass stoppers, an antique label dispenser, an ancient apothecary chest, wall-mounted alchemy signs.

These, for the first time, have been given full and prominent display in a room of their own.

"There's over 40-something years of history in that room," Tomi Henry said. "It's awesome. Everybody that comes here, it's their favorite room."

Travel, another of Henry's passions, is represented by an assemblage of hats mounted on a mirrored hall rack near the front door.

There are hats documenting the Henrys' trips to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Alaska and many other places far from the winter strawberry capital. Each is adorned with commemorative pins from points of particular interest along the way.

Henry has future plans for these old friends.

"When I get old and I can't go anywhere, I'm gonna pull down my hat and relive my trip to Scotland," he said.

However, the rest of the house, and much of his life, is focused on another, more distant journey.

An impressive rendering of The Last Supper presides over the dining table, where the deacon of Plant City's First Baptist Church breaks bread under the watchful eyes of Jesus and his disciples.

Angels guard the mantel. Well-worn Bibles are not far away.

A sign posted above the front door informs visitors: ... "but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15."

Prayers mark ordinary days and special occasions.

"I think he's a very grateful person of how God has blessed him," said Edith Langston, pastor of Plant City's METS Ministries.

Every day is Thanksgiving at the Henry house.

Reporter Jan Hollingsworth can be reached at (813) 865-4436 or jhollingsworth@tampatrib.com.

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