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www.southernsenior.info 19 Fred thought of another group of players from that era as he remembered those years at FCAHS. “I had four boys on that team who lived in Fruitland Park, just north of Brooklyn. Their father was a pastor in Hatties- burg, and I never recall meeting him. Their mother told me how much I helped them, but again, I didn’t know then or now what I did. I do remember they worked on a farm, and if they had to go out and work on the farm, their mother would get in touch with me, tell me ‘I’m sorry, but I wanted to let you know they wouldn’t make practice because I had to have them here with me to get things done, but I’d make sure they are there (practice) tomorrow.’” Henley said he learned from Dobie Holden how to handle things. “Dobie would sit up in the stands half the time and watch us run the plays over and over again until he was satisfied with it. He never questioned anybody, but occasionally if he didn’t like something, he’d come down and show you what you needed to do, but he would never scream or holler at you.” After his second season with Holden at Pearl River, Henley was offered the head coaching job at Forrest County Agricul- tural High School (FCAHS) in Brooklyn, MS. He went over there and met with Mr. Shoemake, the Superin- tendent, and looked the place over. “Oh my. I was shocked. I went back and got my wife and took her over there to check it out and she reacted the same way. We really liked what we saw,” Fred said of their first impression of the Brooklyn area and the school. “That was a great time living and coaching in Brooklyn. Absolutely eleven of the best years of our lives.” Henley was most proud of how the boys he coached turned out. “The great majority of the people came from very poor back- grounds, but they were great folks. Three of the boys I coached became doctors, four more went on to be lawyers. Two others became engineers. That shocked me.” Henley’s record at Brooklyn was 89-13-2 as head coach. He was named the DeSoto Conference Coach of the Year in 1956, 1958, and 1962 winning the conference in ’56. During his tenure at FCAHS, he also coached baseball, basketball, and served as principal. In 1985, the school named the foot- ball field in his honor tagging it “Henley Field”, an event that was a total surprise. In 1963, Picayune Superintendent S.F. Smith reached out to Henley and offered him the head football coach job at Fred’s alma mater. Henley and his family returned to Picayune. By now, he and Vell Von had two children, a son, Craig (born in 1960), and a daughter Kaye, (born in 1963), who was just an infant when they arrived in Picayune. Henley coached football for two seasons before he moved into administration spending one year as Jr. High Principal (’65), then High School Principal for 5 years (‘66-’70), Assis- tant Superintendent for 5 years (’71-’75), and then Superin- tendent for 10 years (’76-’86). His service to Picayune spanned 21 years. They welcomed their third child to the family, daughter Stacey, in 1968 while Fred was principal at the high school. Fred retired from working in education in 1986 with 36 years of service. He worked five more years at Stennis Space Cen- ter as the Director of Educational Resources at the Welcome Center before fully re- tiring in 1991. “I look back at my time as a coach and adminis- trator, and some of the most rewarding times were when I saw a for- mer employee or a for- mer player or student who went on to be- come successful,” Hen- ley said of his love of working in education. “As teachers, coaches, and educators, we don’t always realize the impact we make on people.” Fred said he is bothered at what he sees in other parts of the country when he sees the issues with race relations. He said he never saw or felt that in Picayune schools. “After I retired, and even today, I would meet people I worked with of other races, good people, black and white, that when we see each other, we don’t shake hands. We hug when we see each other,” he explained of his love of those he served with.