Henry Wombles, whose varied life took him from Ky.'s eastern coalfield to Midway's restaurant row, dies at 82

Henry Wombles signed copies of his book, Under
the Flagpole, outside Heirloom on Sept. 20, 2015.

Henry Wombles, who helped his son Mark start the Heirloom restaurant in Midway after a very varied life in work and business, did peacefully at his home Thursday, March 26. He was 82.

"He was one of the kindest men I ever knew," Mark Wombles said on Facebook. "He always had a clever story, a gentle voice, and a hopeful smile. I’m devastated I won’t hear more of his stories, but I’m eternally thankful for the ones I have. I’ll cherish them as I tell them to my children as I age. His influence over me, as I now father two children is extraordinary. He always had words of encouragement for me. He always told me I was the most handsome boy he ever saw. He believed in me, way before I started to believe in myself. . . . I’m really going to miss him."

After high school, Henry Wombles worked several years in coal mines for his father. Henry Elliott Wombles, then for an engineering company in Hazard, then helped a Florida engineering firm with restoring the home of Samuel Lerner, who owned the Lerner Shops, into the Compleat Angler Hotel, a favorite of Ernest Hemingway, on the island of Bimini in the Bahamas.

After several years in Florida, Wombles returned to Kentucky to help his father, but lived in Lexington, and when the coal business slowed, he joined the Lexington Herald-Leader in single-copy sales, late making and directing training films for new employees. He retired at 63 to a small farm on the Woodford-Fayette county line, but had many projects, and partnered with Mark Wombles to open Heirloom in 2006. He frequented the top-rated restaurant long after he no longer owned an interest in it, and was a familiar figure to locals and visitors who enjoyed his stories and sense of humor.

His heart remained in Eastern Kentucky, and in 2015, he published a novel set in Appalachia during World War II, Under the Flagpole, which he described as a "work of love" for the people he grew up with. He hosted tours of Hazard for friends who had enjoyed his book. "I’m so thankful he wrote a book in his late years," Mark wrote. "It holds many of his childhood memories . . . and recounts the story of an overlooked region of America during the turn of the century."

His survivors include his wife of 61 years, Jeanne Cox Wombles; three children, Shayna (Gary) Cooper of Warsaw, Ind., Jeanne (Dave) Gillespie of Leland, N.C., and Mark (Kyla) Wombles of Lexington; and two brothers, James (Charlann) Wombles Sr. and Bobby (Joy) Wombles of Lexington.

The family says a celebration of his life "will be planned for a later date when circumstances permit," but a scholarship is being established in his name for students in his hometown. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to Hazard High School, 157 Bulldog Lane, Hazard KY 41701, for the Henry "Buzz" Wombles Memorial Scholarship Fund.