Biographer David Jerome will give presentation, “Tom Henke: Faith, Family, Friends, and Baseball” at 6:00 p.m. at the Garnett Library on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. This event is sponsored by the Ozarks Heritage Research Center. Refreshments provided.

Jerome will provide an overview about Tom Henke, an exceptional yet underrated former professional baseball player from Missouri. Henke, a two-time All-Star, a World Series winner, and a Rolaids Relief Award winner, pitched for the Texas Rangers, the Toronto Blue Jays and the St. Louis Cardinals. By the end of his career, Henke amassed 311 saves as a closing pitcher. In 2011, he was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

In addition to exploring his faith, Jerome will provide a background of how Tom Henke’s family and friends helped him throughout his baseball career. Henke, of Taos, Missouri, located in the northern region of the Ozarks’ Salem Plateau just east of Jefferson City, grew up in a large religious family of modest means.

More about Jerome

Retired U.S. Army officer and former college professor, David Jerome wrote biography “Bill Virdon: A Life in Baseball” and edited the textbook “Examining War and Conflict around the World.” Jerome’s second book, “Preacher Roe: The Life of a Professional Baseball Great from the Ozarks” will be published  March 1, 2026.

David received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, an MBA from Florida Tech in Melbourne, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS. He received numerous U.S. Army awards throughout his career, including the Legion of Merit. He and his wife, Kathy, have two children, Julie Topping (Mark) of Nevada City, California and Mark Jerome, of Ozark, Missouri. David and Kathy make their home in Ozark, Missouri.