Henry Zarrow, Mr. Henry, as he is affectionately known to most, is a life-long Tulsan having lived here all but the first six months of his 87 years. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the first son of immigrant parents from Latvia (Russia). His father, Sam came to America as a sixteen-year-old having smuggled his way onto a train leaving Russia disguised as a girl. Once out of Russia, he dropped his disguise and boarded a ship bound for America. Upon arriving in this country, Sam was asked his birthday by Immigration. He asked on what the date this country got its independence and July 4^th became his new birthday. His father brought his childhood sweetheart, Rose, over a few years later to be his wife.

Sam and Rose Zarrow established themselves in the grocery business in Tulsa in 1916 with their first store on what is now known as the north side. Mr. Henry, while having few memories of the Tulsa Race Riots, was told his mother hid many African Americans in their store in the back or under counters to protect them from the angry mobs.

The grocery business was a family business with Mr. Henry starting to work in the store at the ripe old age of six. By the time he was 13, he opened his own grocery store in the Crystal City shopping center. The hours of the grocery coincided with his attendance at school. He left early each morning to go to the farmer’s market. After depositing some of the day’s fruit and vegetables in his parent’s store, he left with the remainder to open his own grocery store at 6:00 a.m. He stayed open until school started at 8:00 o’clock. After school was out each day, he returned to open the store until dusk. At one point, short on funds, Mr. Henry tracked his banker down at the old Tulsa Hotel asking for a personal loan of $300. Roscoe Adams, the banker, scoffed at his request, "imagine giving that much money to a 13 year old boy". The man accompanying Mr. Adams interrupted, "Roscoe, how’s the boy supposed to ever get ahead if you don’t give him the money." So Mr. Adams did. The man who spoke up for Mr. Henry that day? J. Paul Getty.

Mr. Henry’s father encouraged him to go into another business besides groceries, so Mr. Henry went to work for Abe Mizel, a cousin, to learn the used pipe business. Quickly, Mr. Henry learned that there was more money to be made selling used pipe than selling groceries. He tried going to school at OU while coming home on the weekends to work. When the drive got to be too much he transferred to TU. Unfortunately, finances kept him from being able to attend more than a semester there.

Driven by a desire to succeed, he turned his attention full-time to learning the pipe business. At 22 years of age, Mr. Henry started Sooner Pipe and Iron (what would be later known as Sooner Pipe & Supply). Mr. Henry’s father, Sam joined him in the business five years later. Over the years what was now a family business grew, helped by his younger brother Jack, who joined the company after he graduated from college. With growth, came acquisitions of other companies, Big Heart Pipeline, and its subsidiaries, Tri-States, Oil-Trading, Crude Oil, Bow and Tomahawk. The 1960s saw the launch of the international side of the business, with TK Valve expanding into Canada, Scotland, Singapore and Nigeria. TK Valve was also a supplier of aluminum ball valves for Desert Storm. Reluctantly agreeing to slow down, Mr. Henry saw the sale of his last company, Sooner Pipe & Supply, in 1998 when he was 82 years young.

While Mr. Henry has been a successful businessman, he is also known as a person with a generous heart. He has been giving back to the community through gifts to charities since he was 21 years old. As Mr. Henry would tell it, he made charitable commitments before he knew how he would fulfill them but he always did. When asked who influenced him the most in giving, he would smile with a tear in his eye and say his wife Anne. Stories abound of Miss Anne giving Mr. Henry his list of "to-dos" for the day, which were really assignments to help someone through an agency she had read about in the paper. Sadly, Miss Anne died two years ago from Alzheimers. She not only was a big influence on Mr. Henry’s giving but she also involved their children, Judy Kishner and Stuart Zarrow. Both now sit as trustees on their parent’s foundation along with Judy’s daughter, Julie Cohen.

The charitable giving to nonprofits from the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation is broad-based throughout the state of Oklahoma but there are specific areas of interest in children’s issues, the homeless and the poor. In Tulsa, the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless, Neighbor for Neighbor, The Center for the Physically Limited, LIFE Senior Services and of course, the new challenge grant to Tulsa Public Schools are some of the recipients of Mr. Henry’s generosity. In Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City Food Bank and Special Care (a day care for mentally and physically challenged children) have been the beneficiaries. There are many other charities throughout the state including small communities who have felt the relief of a gift from the foundation. Mr. Henry reads every thank you note including the many he has recently received from Tulsa Public School’s students. While he does not personally call recipients with the good news of an approval, he always is interested in their response, hoping he didn’t disappoint them with the approved amount. Sometimes recipients are brought to tears by his generosity.

Mr. Henry was asked recently by a reporter, "does it hurt you to give away your money?" To which he replied, "No ma’am, it doesn’t. It gives me a lot of pleasure". The reporter seemed surprised at his response. Those that know Mr. Henry wouldn’t have been.

The above portrait hangs in the entry of Henry Zarrow International School.