Phil Henry

Partner
Henry Avocado Corporation
Escondido, California

Phil Henry was born in Long Beach and grew up in the area graduating from Cal State University at Long Beach in 1968. While his first cousins, Gil and Warren, had an avocado growing, packaging and shipping operation in Escondido, that was not a career on his radar screen. In the late 1970s, Phil expanded his own opportunities by studying for and receiving a real estate license. He started specializing in agricultural real estate and originally began working with Henry Avocado on real estate deals.

Henry Avocado Corporation

Charles C. Henry served in World War I and then returned to his native Los Angeles after that war and found work as a gardener. On one of the estates where he worked, Henry took special note of some newly-planted avocado trees in the early 1920s, and marveled at how well they did in the Southern California climate. Around this time period, he had met and married his wife, Florence, who had family ties to the citrus industry in the Pomona Valley, east of Los Angeles. An idea was born which soon led to the purchase of an 80 acre parcel in Escondido, and the planting of an avocado orchard, and a new company. Today, the Henry Avocado offices and packing facility are housed on that same 80 acre plot, more than 80 years later.

After serving in the Army for three years after college, Phil Henry joined the federal government Sky Marshall program and flew on commercial flights to deter skyjacking. He spent a decade in federal law enforcement before moving to real estate and the agricultural business.

He and his wife Kathy live in Escondido and are active in the community. Henry Avocado Corporation is a constant contributor to many worthy local causes including the Escondido Foundation, the YMCA, the Escondido Boys Club and a charter school located near the firm’s headquarters.