Mayor of Fort Wayne Tom Henry passes away following a medical crisis

Fort Wayne, Indiana – Tom Henry, the mayor of Fort Wayne, passed away on Thursday, one day after suffering a medical emergency because of stomach cancer. He was seventy-two.

Hours after Henry’s family announced that he had entered hospice care following a medical emergency, the Democratic mayor’s office announced that he had “passed away peacefully.”

“Mayor Henry was a man of the highest character – a true servant leader who devoted his entire adult life to the betterment of Fort Wayne and its residents. He was also the best dad a son or daughter could ask for,” the announcement from his spokesperson John Perlich said.

According to Henry’s family’s earlier statement, he was taken in private to a hospital where the mayor and his family had extensive discussions with his oncologist and other medical staff members.

“After careful consideration of the risks associated with surgical intervention, Mayor Henry has opted for comfort measures at this time. He is resting comfortably under the care of extremely skilled hospice nurses,” the statement said.

Henry revealed at a press conference on February 26 that he had been diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer. In early March, he started receiving chemotherapy.

“My initial scans have shown that the cancer is currently spreading through my lymph nodes and other organs,” Henry said at the time. “Therefore, my prognosis is not exactly encouraging.”

In November, Henry was re-elected to a fifth term as mayor of the second-most populous city in Indiana, home to over 270,000 people. Cindy, Henry’s wife, fought pancreatic illness for more than a year before passing away on January 20 at the age of 67.

In November 2022, Henry entered a guilty plea to operating a car while intoxicated and endangering the person. He was sentenced to one year in jail with a 90-day license suspension. One month prior, his blood alcohol content was almost twice the legal limit in Indiana, leading to his arrest.