When I think of Henry Townes, three things immediately come to mind: the depth of his knowledge, his singularity of purpose, and his willingness to help young scientists (despite a formidable reputation). The classification he proposed was based on a deeply rooted understanding of ichneumonid nomenclature, thorough knowledge of the collections, types, and publications of early authors, and a careful consideration of the impact of nomenclatural rules on the stability of suprageneric names. It is these features, rather than his classification per se, which have had the greatest impact on me. Considering the size of the family, his knowledge of the individual species was impressive. He used the knowledge (together with an obsessive quest for maximizing the number of hours/day devoted to his taxon of choice) to build the finest collection of ichneumonids in the world. Yet his seemingly single-minded devotion to the Ichneumonidae did not prevent him from publishing on other groups, and his 1945 paper on chironomids set a standard for taxonomic revisions in that family. His critical assessments of published works on Braconidae and other parasitic Hymenoptera was, for me, one of the most challenging yet enjoyable aspects of my visits with Henry and Marjorie. The collection and Institute remain as a tribute to Henry's determination to leave behind him a place where research can be conducted in a productive setting. But Henry took his greatest treasure with him -- his vast store of unpublished knowledge.