Henry Herr Gill

Born on July 21, 1930 in Detroit, Michigan, he was the son of Henry and Esther King Gill. He grew up in Washington, Indiana. While some publications say he was born on a farm in southern Indiana, nothing could be farther from the truth. The Great Depression was part of his childhood and would shape him into the man he grew up to be.

He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. On August 26, 1957, he married Mary Jane Brown, the love of his life. They were married for sixty-four years before she passed away on July 23, 2022. He never got over her dying before him.

Henry started his newspaper and photography career at the Washington (IN) Democrat newspaper and the Washington Daily Times. From there, he would go to Mississippi, working at the Mississippi Women’s College in its publicity office. From Mississippi, it was off to Miami to the University of Miami publications department where he furthered his photography skills.

And then there was Chicago. It was here he would become a globetrotting photojournalist, first working for the Chicago Daily News as a photographer and rising through the ranks as director of photography. It was at the Daily News that he would coauthor the book Mississippi Notebook with Nicholas Von Hoffman.

Some of his many assignments included ten tours in Vietnam covering the war, numerous wars on the African continent, multiple visits to Russia and China. After the Daily News closed, he became the director of photography at the Chicago Sun-Times. Here he would continue traveling the world, covering the latest hotspots. He would freelance for World Book Encyclopedia at the same time. He covered the Chicago Bears, providing photos for a book Inside Defensive Football written by Dick Butkus.

Henry retired from the Chicago Sun Times and headed off on yet another adventure. This time his wife, Mary Jane, joined him in Rome, where he founded Global Foto, a wire service specializing in photos that catered to publications in twenty-nine countries. He finally retired, returning to Crystal Lake, Illinois and then Las Vegas, Nevada. He moved to Seymour, Indiana in 2022 to be closer to some of his nieces and nephews.

Henry was nominated for every major photojournalism award, winning many throughout the years. His assignments would take him to more than ninety countries. He was inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 2004. His 1965 documentary, War of Many Faces, about the Vietnam War won an Emmy Award. His documentary about drug trafficking, The Cocaine Express, brought him another Emmy nomination. He didn’t just cover wars though. He was the Apollo 11 photographic pool coordinator aboard the USS Hornet for the recovery of the first astronauts to walk on the moon.

He is survived by several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife; his parents; his brother, L. Thurman Gill; and his sister, Karlene Butterworth.

No services are planned. Neptune Society has been entrusted with cremation arrangements.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the family at: https://neptunesociety.com/obituaries/indianapolis-in/henry-gill-12237962