Oak Park local was Renaissance man

PEDIGREE—The late Jean Louis Henraux of Oak Park comes from a long line of European artistocrats. The champion skier who turned to art in his later years died in his sleep at age 88. Everybody has at least one story to tell, but Jean Louis Henraux's extraordinary life could fill several volumes.

Henraux—an artist, a champion skier, and a man who had two popes (Pope Pius II and Pope Pius III) in his family tree—died in his sleep April 3 at his Oak Park home. He was 88.

Henraux's ancestry is a veritable "who's who" of the rich and pedigreed. His cousin Drusilla is married to Roberto Gucci, a relative of the late designer Guccio Gucci. He had connections to the Vanderbilt family on his mother's side, and his great-uncle Egisto Fabbri handled the interior design of the House of the Redeemer in New York.

Henraux, who had said that as a child he was never bored because he could always draw something, took up art upon his retirement. His impressionistic paintings in watercolor and pastels decorate his home.

Before his death, Henraux completed a series of watercolor illustrations, a cookbook and templates for restaurant menus.

Mirith Colao, a former Disney writer who also lives in Oak Park, was so taken with Henraux's art that she collaborated with him on a children's book, "Bon Voyage with Jean Luc and Gigi."

"He was so talented," Colao said. "It didn't matter what the subject was, it has such a beauty and life to it."

Born in France but raised in the Tuscan region of Italy and in New York City, Henraux's impressionistic illustrations of French pastry shops, church bells in Florence and gondolas in Venice were drawn from memory, he said in February during an interview with The Acorn about his book project.

Henraux also wrote a memoir, an adventure called "With My Eyes Wide Open: The First 25 Years," which documented his time spent as a soldier in World War II. Henraux said he enlisted in the French Military Intelligence Service.

"I refused to be a soldier," he said of his time spent in the war.

Besides family ties to popes, designers and the very rich, the Henraux family owned and operated the Henraux marble quarry in Pietrasanta, Italy, for many years. The quarry produced the pure, white marble used in many of Italy's historical monuments and cathedrals and many of Michelangelo's statues, including David. Henraux's family sold the quarry in 1938, when Henraux was 17 years old, but it still retains the Henraux name.

Lara Barrett said she moved from Studio City to Oak Park to be near Henraux and his wife, Ellen. "They were our surrogate grandparents," she said.

"He was a true Renaissance man," Barrett said.

Henraux is survived by his wife, Ellen; son, Jean Pierre and his wife, Kaitlyn; grandson Jean Luc; and a sister who lives in Mexico City.

Barrett said a celebration of Henraux's life is being planned.