Henry Rodes Hart Sr., a well-known Nashville businessman, philanthropist and strong supporter of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, died at his home on March 30. He was 93.
A 1954 graduate of Vanderbilt University and longtime CEO of Franklin Industries, one of the nation’s largest suppliers of industrial and agricultural minerals, Mr. Hart served as a member of the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust for more than 30 years.
He and his wife, Patricia Ingram Hart, who died in 2022, endowed multiple chairs across the School of Medicine and Peabody College of Education and Human Development and underwrote two scholarships at Peabody. In 2018 Mr. Hart received Vanderbilt’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, its highest honor for graduates of the university.
“Mr. Hart will long be remembered for his leadership and generosity. His lifelong devotion to Vanderbilt was evident, and his and Patricia’s thoughtful generosity will continue to impact VUMC’s future. Our thoughts are with the Hart family as we mourn his passing,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of VUMC and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
Born in Chicago to Patti Rodes and John Thomas Hart on March 19, 1932, Mr. Hart grew up in Columbia, Tennessee, and attended Columbia Military Academy and Phillips Exeter Academy. At Vanderbilt, among other accomplishments, he held the university’s pole vaulting record for 12 years.
In 1956, after serving for four years in the United States Marines, Mr. Hart went to work for Franklin Builders Supply Company (later Franklin Industries) in Nashville, under the mentorship of his uncle, Alan Battle Rodes. He sold the company to a Belgian conglomerate in 2006.
As a member of the former George Peabody College for Teachers Board of Trust, Mr. Hart played an integral role in the successful merger of Vanderbilt University and Peabody College in 1979.
He then joined the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust, where he served on several committees and on the Medical Center Affairs Committee of the Board, prior to VUMC’s separation from the University in 2016. From 2008 to 2011, he chaired the University’s highly successful Shape the Future Campaign, which raised a record $1.94 billion.
Upon his retirement, Mr. Hart continued to pursue his love of education, opera, horseback riding, poetry, fitness, literature, history and travel. He was a member of the board of Arkansas-based Murphy Oil Corporation, a founder of the Nashville Symphony, and a longtime supporter of the Nashville Zoo.
Mr. Hart is survived by his son Henry Rodes Hart Jr. and daughter-in-law Page; his son Kevin Ingram Hart and daughter-in-law Polly Dix; his daughter, Patti Rodes Hart Smallwood, and son-in-law, Brian; his grandchildren, Christina, Tommy, Caroline, Callie, Connor, Kendall, Duncan, Battle, Ethan and Griffin; 11 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
The family would like to thank his many doctors, nurses and caregivers, Vanderbilt University Hospital, Avenues Home Care, and Alive Hospice of Nashville. The burial will be a private family gathering. An online guestbook is available at Austin Funeral and Cremation Services of Brentwood (www.austinfuneralservice.com or 615-430-4817).
Sources: Patricia Ingram Hart Obituary – Nashville, TN
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