Matt Hennessee:
CLASS OF 1976
Eastmoor High SchoolClass of 1976
Columbus, OH
Matt's Story
(An update to the profile I placed in here in 2007 or 2008. Then I updated the profile as of May 5th 2011, March 26, 2012, and the latest Mid-Summer 2022.)
Hey everyone:
I'm leaving the original message below in case there are those who wish to read through it who haven't. If you have, just hang with me here.
The graduation from Golden Gate Theological Seminary did happen in December 2008! I earned the Masters of Divinity degree and four days later landed in the hospital in Portland with an emergency gall bladder attack that called for its removal. I was in the hospital for ten days with ice and snow all around Portland which meant people couldn't get around. I was in the hospital until Christmas Eve.
I loved all the pomp and circumstance around the election of President Barak Obama and had/have great hopes for our country to unite in important ways around social justice, economic prosperity, education, and begin to set new visions, hopes, and dreams for the next generations. My prayer is for the world to be a better place to live, raise children, and work. I'm hoping to do my part to make this happen.
In September 2009 I began work on my Doctorate of Missiology at Western Seminary. It is kicking my behind and in November last year I decided to take some time off to complete the degree because trying to work, go to school, have a job, and be a family person doesn't work veryy well. Too many balls drop. It is my hope to complete my classwork by the summer of 2012 and begin writing my dissertation with the ability to graduate in the Spring or Winter of 2013. With that I hope to get back to work this summer.
Like many of you I'm seeing chldren grow up, grandchildren born, thanking God for great friends, fond memories of our Eastmoor days, and hopes to continue to spread joy to all I meet. I wish each of you the very best and hope you and yours are well.
Warmly,
J.W. Matt Hennessee
Portland, OR
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The message below was written in 2007 or 2008. If you're read it before, there are several changes-- as of the March 26th 2012 writing. If you've not read it, feel free to, but remember I'm terribly verbose. (smile) Somehow I've always believed when writing to give as much context as possible and paint the picture as accurately as I can.
Warm love to all
me
I'm still in Portland, Oregon after moving here 23 years ago. I came with what I assumed would be a story book family, life, career, etc., and I found out after a while that that was not to be.
It was very disappointing and I was responsible for the demise of that dream as well. So I picked up the pieces, repaired some very damaged parts of my life, confronted some very difficult issues, learned my lessons, took advice spiritually and clinically, and worked on the next phase of my life.
In between I was blessed to survive a near-fatal crash with a piece of 25 lb. steel pipe that fell off a truck going the opposite direction than I. The pipe hit me in the face on the left side and would have killed me instantly had not my assistant, Ken, asked me a question and I turned my face to look at him just before the accident. Amazing isn't it. While it broke every bone on the left side of my face (I have a plastic orbit that holds my left eye in place since the bone was shattered, I have plastic wired in my cheek bones, and screws and bolts just behind my left eyebrow, etc) and took two years of surgery to get me back to complete health--believe it or not I only missed a very small amount of work.
I've had the joy of meeting and working with people all over the world (Asia: Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong,; Europe: Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, France, Norway, the Czech Republic; Middle East: Israel and the Palestinian Territory) in a variety of ways with Nike and interpersonally.
Many of you may remember how much I adored the life and work of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I recited his speeches, believed in his truth, spent my life working on racial and social reconciliation. Want another surprise? I was blessed to be considered one of Mrs. Coretta Scott King's children. I met Yolanda first and we became fast friends. Then I met Dexter, Martin III, and Bernice. We spent many MLK Days and other holidays intimately together in Atlanta and I was right by Mrs. King's side. They were in my home often as well. What a privilige and an honor! She was such a wonderfully powerful and gifted woman in her own way and I have long mourned her passing and that of Yolanda 17 months later; but I had the privilege of knowing Yoki for 25 years and Mrs. King for 20.
I was blessed, as the guest of then National Security Advisor, Condi Rice, to have spent time around the White House and attend a State Dinner in honor of the President of Mexico. It was a fairy tale night and while I'm a registered Independent, I truly enjoyed my time there and had a delightful time meeting and having some personal time with the President and Mrs. Bush, Vice President and Mrs. Cheney, then Secretary of State Colin Powell and Mrs. Powell, Gov. and Mrs. Jeb Bush, Transportation Secretary Norm Meneta, President and Mrs. Vincente Fox, and so many others in the family quarters at the White House. One of the people who impressed me most that night was then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Renquist. He remembered my name and stuff about me and only met me at the beginning of the dinner, but came up to me afterward and engaged me. He was very impressive.
I've been blessed to work for a world-wide and respected marketing company, Nike, as it's Global Operations Director (hence the travel mentioned above), CEO of a Finance Company, served on the Board of a Christian Liberal Arts College, Chaired an International Educational Research Foundation, Chaired the agency in the City of Portland responsible for the leveraging of more than $1 billion in private investment each year in the City's target zones including Downtown which is world-class.
I've been blessed to be a father to Matt Jr. who battled cancer and won. He continues to be seen by the doctor, but for all intents and purposes, God has prevailed! I have been blessed with three grand-children from Matt Jr. and Lisa (whom I love as a daughter--she's as special as they come), Damien who just turned 8, Auryellos who'll be 6 in June, and Marcelino who will be 2 in September. Damien was not able to say Grandpa early on and my name became "Pea-Pah". However, his maternal grandmother worked on him and now he and Auryellos call me "Grampa". Marcelino was born with a sizeable birth mark on his head that the doctors said without removal it would cause cancer by the time he's a pre-teen. Lisa and Matt Jr. elected to have the surgery to remove the birth mark and the last of the three surgeries will be on April 2nd, 2012. All three of my grandchildren are the most adorable grandchildren in the whole world. I love them and they give me back nothing but unconditional and soulful love.
I was married for 6 years to Sharon J. Hennessee and God blessed us to have a good life together, but sometimes things just don't work out and we didn't. I wish Sharon, her chldren, and her ultimate mate the very best and know that God will bless her life immensely.
In addition to working hard on earning my Doctorate in Missiology I'm still pasoring a Church. I thought I'd never say it and I never wanted to, but I have been for the past 7 years. It's been phenomenal and I fought God all the way. I've been in the active pulpit ministry since I left high school, but was death on being a senior pastor. I loved supporting other pastors and being there for them and the congregation. However, I was finally called and accepted that call to an historic Portland Church that had been declining steadily since 1993, but it's been growing and developing like crazy since I was elected in December 2004. I became the pastor, officially, in January 2005. and the name of the church is Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church, in Portland.
In addition to pastoring and doing my other work, I've still been blessed with the ability to be as active as I wish to be in local politics, community concerns, and civil rights issues. I have given up on the thought of running for public office one day. Our politics has become too toxic, our public discourse has become too mean-spirited, and we seem to have a mentality of once someone emerges as a winner or a leader, we want to pull him/her down. I've definitely made some mistakes in my life that I'm not proud of. I've made some bad decisions that have been traced back to some early issues in my life that were not resolved. For all of those reasons I'm really sorry because I had a great hope at one point in my life about being a public representative for the needs and hopes of the people, whether it is local, statewide, or national.
Truthfully, no matter what, I've had a good life and spend my time these days working hard in the leadership of the local and regional conventions, with the Governor's staff on a number of issues, with the Mayor's staff on a number of issues as well. My love for children and their opportunity to succeed continues. It's a passion I will die with.
We founded the Drum Major Scholarship Fund at the Church and each year we give scholarships to youth who are headed, after high school, to do one of five things: get a job or start a business; military; trade school for such pursuits as pharmacy, medical technicians, barbering, etc.; work with the labor unions in roles that allow one...Expand for more
to go from apprentice to journey/person; community college, or four-year college or university. Thankfully we have been able to assist nearly 40 youth and young adults since 2007 with scholarships in the range of $500.00 to $1,500.00. We've also assisted four who were taking semesters abroad during their college years to the following countries: Italy, Spain, Africa, and China.
OK is this sounding too much like a fairy tale? Well it's true, but remember I started with the fact that I've also done some things I'm not proud about and am very sorry for as well.
Anyway, what's meant the most to me? The fact that people get a chance to develop and grow their lives; they get to forgive and be forgiven; love and be loved; and that your worst mistake doesn't define who you are if that's what it is. What do I want to do the rest of my life? Give back because much has been given to me.
OK, that's as much as I can say about me and I know I left out a lot of details since we, the Bi-centennial class of 1976, graduated 36 amazingly short years ago.
I didn't want to start this because I don't like re-chronicling history, particularly personal history. However, once I got started it's hard to know what to share and what not to.
Finally, I love you all. My days at Eastmoor Sr. were the best. I am, in my life, the sum of what we were: curious, believers, dreamers, action-oriented, artists, flexible, determined, and so much more. We didn't, like many before us, let race define us. We climbed the wall together and our lives reflect that. When I returned for the 20th reunion I was so glad I did and that night was one of the best nights of my life. Nancy Levy Linder (I had the pleasure of meeting her husband, John, whoÃÂÃÂÃÂÿs now a Rabbi, and son, David, in Jerusalem while they lived there.) and I connected that night and we went to Steve Francis' house with those who went and the whole time all I did was talk to people.
I still remember Shelby Williams greeting me, my plane flew in late from Portland, at the door and said, "....Matt Hennessee, give me my hug, give me my kiss, give me your bag and go work the room..."
Doesn't that just say it all? That's exactly what I did and for someone who hadn't seem me in the 20 years since we graduated--if she's met someone who had spent much time around me since then--they'd have said the same thing. It was exhilarating. My memories of my years in high school and junior high were extraordinary.
Debbie Banks (Deborah Banks Clark now) lives here and we've just re-connected in the last year and found out that we're family. We didn't know that in our days at EJH (for those who remember Rhonda Davis--she's family too) we'd have the joy of playing out life together in such a special way, but we have and it's been wonderful.
I'm done. Yes, I am really, done. I thank people like Bob Booker's sister, Liz Booker Gaddis who never let me be without her number and she always had my contact information. She's a real connection between he and me and I couldn't have been more proud to learn he was tapped to lead the Ohio Highway Patrol as the Interim Superintendent until they found a new person! What a guy! My cousin, Mark Davis who also makes it his business to know where I am and keep me connected to his side of the family. Without his persistence I'd have never met my paternal grandmother and have some very good years with her before she died in 1998.
I've lost contact with my closest associates: Tom Carmichael, David Mordoh (who lived in Worthington on Hennessey St. last I knew) who was such an instrumental man in my life teaching me about cultural differences and ways to connect, Mark Thomas, Steve Barksdale, Lynn Vines who is one of the most adorable women you'd want to meet and seeing she and Billy at the 20th reunion was such an inspiration to me; Nettie James, Rene Gibbs, Anita Gales who I saw in a Dallas Airport eons ago but she was as flawless and serene as I always remember her; Ailene Elder, Paula Gray, Shari Smith both of whom I totally and thrillingly adored, Kathy Corbin, Marty Cohen who shared a room with David M. and I as students in Israel; Maureen Reedy, Sybil Taylor who was more than a kick in the pants all the time; John King and his twin sister, Jan King; David Vines, Jadene Zwicker, Lynette Aaron, Phil Lias, Rhonda Tartt, Floyd Schilling, Wesley Greenfield, Michael Guess, James Mason, Ricky Pounds, Toya Corbett, Kathy Lewis (my play cousin whom I adored) Tracy Swanson, Lisa Swanson, Dwayne Goolsby, Ephyllis Brown, Valerie Raspbery and all her sisters and wonderful mother, Vicki and Darcel Harris, Sherry Lynn Welch, Debbie Turner, David Bynum, Mrs. Perry, Mr. Meyers, Mrs. Tallman, Anell Mowery, Mr. Toth, Mr. Mellquist, Mrs. Farrar, who was the very striking looking African American female teacher, I think in English?, Ms. Jan Morris, Mr. Wilson, Laura Hirschmann, Amy Block, Kathy Krauth, ........Ok, Ok, I'm thinking I've left a slew of names off....I have, but I have to go. Maybe I can edit this later.........
My best to all of you and yours.
God speed and blessings to you,
Love,
Matt (Matthew--Deb reminds me this is what everyone called me then.)
Updated in Mid-Summer 2022:
Updated Mid-Summer 2022:
Updataed Mid-Summer 2022
My friends, it has been ten years since I have posted here. A lot has happened since then. However, I'm still in Portland, Oregon. I still lead Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church in the inner city. It is going on 18 years. I'm very involved in the community leading efforts to bring police and community together for the past seven to ten years. I have served in public administration from my college days to the present and overlapping all of that I was blessed to travel the world as a global leader at Nike for nine years; lead a privately held company in a suburb here in the financial industry for seven years; serve as a Settlement Agreement Monitor for the EEOC for three years; served on the Board of Trustees of Westmont College in Santa Barbara for nine years; currently serve as Vice Chair of the Berkeley School of Theology, a seminary, in Berkeley, CA for the past four years; and lead various aspects of inter-faith work here in Portland. Presently I also lead a trade association and foundation focused on advocating for, strengthening, and providing every aspect of assistance possible to women-owned, black and brown-owned, and other people of color owned businesses in the construction industry, I serve as the President & CEO. I also serve as a professional facilitator for the affordable housing industry. I'm blessed to be married to Elder/First Lady Twauna Hennessee who is the Community Outreach Representative for the Carpenter's Union. Between us we have four children (two boys and two girls) and nine grandchildren. (four boys and five girls). Due to the tragic murder of our second oldest son on the streets of Portland last year we have been raising our #5 granddaughter who will be nine years of age next week. Starting over as a parent has been a stretch for both of us since our children are all grown. However it is a blessing to pour into their lives. My promise, which I keep every day, is that when our granddaughter came to live with us that I, too, would do my part in raising her. So we have great conversations all the time but especially going too and from school every day. We have a 40 minute commute and it affords a lot of time to talk, pray, and be really deep in insights with one another. More recently we did something (truthfully, I acquiesced) to having a dog. Lord have mercy. If you know anything about Portland it is a dog and bike town. Anyway, "Rocco" is our five month old standard poodle. As you can imagine he and I have become buddies, but it was not my hope to have a dog with schedules as we have but we are doing our part to be there for him. While I am very busy and we have a very busy household I'm learning--begrudgingly--that I have far more years behind me than in front of me and it's time to focus a little more time on rest and relaxation. I have the concept but I don't practice it very well. Over the years while I have traveled the world for work in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East--we went to Dubai this year and really had a great time. I took five books to read--I read none of them--but rested almost the entire time. Too bad I had to go that far to find it. It was an 14 hour flight out of Seattle straight to Dubai. However, we had a glorious time. Since my update to you in 2012 I have traveled to Lebanon, Egypt, Costa Rica, and back and forth to Israel, Austria, the UK, and many parts of the U.S. I miss our days at Eastmoor High School. I always felt so blessed to go to school with such incredibly smart and socially conscious people. It was our class, the Class of '76 that gave me so much hope that we would solve so many of the problems of the world. And yet, here we are in 2022, with just as many problems as we have always had. I was blessed, and this is a long story short, to be the godson of Mrs. Coretta Scott King for twenty years before her death in 2006. I wish I could put into words the amazing experience that was as she spoke with me about Dr. King and the Movement. I was blessed then as now to be a part of many of the King activities. Well I'm coming to the end of my allotment of words. Please know that I wish each of you the very best and hope and pray that you are living your best life. Please do your part, as I am doing mine, to bring us further together than apart. Help us heal and leave a legacy of love, mercy, forgiveness, hope, and peace for the generations that come after us. I wish you love, peace, and joy always, Matt
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