2025 SESSION
ENROLLED
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 378
Celebrating the life of Harry Arthur Tenney.
Agreed to by the Senate, February 19, 2025
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 20, 2025
WHEREAS, Harry Arthur Tenney, an honorable veteran, successful businessman and insurance agent, and an active and beloved member of the Charlottesville community, died on September 5, 2024; and
WHEREAS, one of nine children raised on a farm in Paramus, New Jersey, Harry Tenney graduated from Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, before joining the United States Army in 1953 and honorably serving his country as a radar technician while stationed in Japan; and
WHEREAS, following his service, Harry Tenney attended Fairleigh Dickinson University with support from the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 and later transferred to Michigan State University, where he met his future wife, Chica; and
WHEREAS, after living for some time in New York City and Washington, D.C., Harry Tenney and his family relocated to Charlottesville when he took a job as a general sales manager at Peyton Pontiac, Cadillac, Datsun, which he later acquired; and
WHEREAS, later in his career, Harry Tenney sold his dealership and ultimately worked for New York Life Insurance Company for many years; and
WHEREAS, in the early 1970s, Harry Tenney supported the students, teachers, and families of Charlottesville as a member of the Charlottesville School Board; and
WHEREAS, Harry Tenney gave generously of his time to encourage people to embrace their civic duty and often volunteered at polling stations on election days; and
WHEREAS, Harry Tenney was a master gardener and beekeeper, an avid birdwatcher and fisherman, and an accomplished chef and baker, who found great joy at his 1880s farmhouse in Buckingham County, which he meticulously restored; and
WHEREAS, preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Chica, Harry Tenney will be fondly remembered and dearly missed by his children, Elizabeth and John, and their families; and by numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Harry Arthur Tenney, a treasured member of the Charlottesville community whose kindness and generosity touched countless lives; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Harry Arthur Tenney as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory.