Her name and a sense of her spirit can be found in numerous places around campus, including the Doy and Dee Henley Residence Hall and the Fish Interfaith Center, where “Dee’s Garden of the Senses” is a tranquil spot to refresh the spirit.
And a luminous memorial shines each December for Chapman’s Winterfest Celebration, when “Dee the Panther” climbs the wall of Beckman Hall’s Alumni Tower. President Jim Doti remembers watching Dee’s face the first time he turned on the feline light sculpture in 2013, when Dee’s health already was in decline.
“Yet the expression on her face as she gazed at her twinkling namesake revealed all the youthful spirit and gusto of a young girl,” Doti said. “It was that spirit and gusto that I will always remember as defining this very special lady.”
Dee and Doy Henley moved to California from Illinois in the 1950s and raised a family while Doy thrived as an entrepreneur, owning and operating several manufacturing companies.
The couple became supporters of Chapman in the 1980s through a friendship with George Argyros, chairman of the Board of Trustees. Doy Henley later chaired the board and received the C.C. Chapman Distinguished Service Award, the University’s highest honor, for his leadership and the couple’s philanthropy.
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