Henning Stoffregen, a career diplomat, came to Montreal in April 1961 with his family to assume the post of Vice Consul at the Danish Consulate General.
Born in Denmark in 1914 to Marie and Alexander Stoffregen, he was the middle child of three. He and his two sisters, Birgitte and Bente, lost their mother when they were 7, 5 and 1/2 year old. Their father gave up his career as a concert pianist to be nearer to his children, and started a music school. He later remarried. The youngest, Bente, followed in his footsteps, teaching piano until her untimely death at 36. She left behind a young daughter, Zita. Birgitte lived until the age of 80. She never married.
Upon completing his secondary education, Henning was apprenticed to a mason after refusing to follow his father's wishes that he study medicine. His own wish was to become a history teacher, but his father thought that a hard apprenticeship would change his mind. As a mason Henning worked in Sweden. Denmark and Germany. At the start of World War II, he found himself trapped in Germany. There was no construction work, so he presented himself at the Danish legation in Hamburg and was hired on the spot as secretary. He moved frequently because of the bombings, and his current home was actually destroyed twice during that time. He also narrowly escaped being bombed in a train station, when he suddenly had decided to walk to the next town. While in Germany, Henning played a role in the rescue of a number of people, who were issued false passports and spirited out of the country. On the last such trip, they were shot at as they escaped in fishing boats to Denmark.
At the end of the war, Henning returned to Copenhagen, and lost no time in proposing to his childhood sweetheart, Bente Silbye. They were married in 1945. Soon afterwards, Henning was posted to the Danish Legation in Reykjavik, Iceland, and Bente joined him there as soon as she had completed her nurses' training in Copenhagen. They spent 7 years in Iceland, during which time Jette and Mikael were born.
In 1952 the family set sail for Athens, Greece, where, later, Marianne was born. After five yearsin Athens, Henning was reassigned to the Danish Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen. The four years that followed was the only time they all lived in Denmark as a family. Then in 1961 Henning was posted to Montreal, Canada, as Vice Consul at the Danish Consulate General. A few years later Henning was promoted to Consul, a post he held until his retirement in 1984. During his tenure Montreal hosted Expo '67 and the 1976 Olympics, which both brought exciting times and extra work. For his meritorious service Henning was granted an audience with Queen Margrethe II who awarded him the 'Ridderkors' (Danish order of Chivalry) in 1982.
A year after Henning retired at the age of 70, he decided to sell the house in Montreal and move back to Denmark. Henning and Bente settled in Birker›d, north of Copenhagen, where they have lived since. It was a difficult transition for them to live in Denmark again, after living so many years abroad. Marianne had already moved to Denmark to study, and later married an Austrian and moved to Austria to be with him. Mikael and Jette had married and lived respectively in the Toronto area and in Montreal. When Henning and Bente moved back to Denmark they could re-connect with family there, but they left behind their 3 grandsons in Montreal. But the boys have all visited mormor and morfar at least once, and mormor and morfar have also been frequent visitors to Montreal in the intervening 13 1/2 years.
Jette Blair
HENNING A. H. STOFFREGEN
1914 - 1999
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the second child of concert pianist and pedagogue, Alexander Stoffregen and his wife Marie. He grew up in Denmark, entering the diplomatic service during World War II, when he found himself trapped in Hamburg, Germany. He played a role in evacuating people with even a remotely Danish connection, sometimes issuing false documents. He often visited concentration camps during this time.
After the liberation of Denmark, Henning returned to Copenhagen to many Bente, his childhood sweetheart (and his wife of 54 years). subsequently, he was posted to the Danish legation in Reykjavik, Iceland for 7 years, where his two elder children were born. Then followed 5 years at the Danish legation in Athens, Greece, where his youngest child was born. After that the family spent 4 years in Copenhagen, before Henning was posted to Montreal, Canada, where he served first as vice consul, later as Consul of Denmark for 23 years. During that time, Montreal hosted Expo '67 and the 1976 Olympics, both of which involved him in his work.
Upon his retirement in 1984, Henning and Bente became Canadian landed immigrants, intending to stay in Montreal, where their daughter, Jette Blair, still lives with her husband and three sons. But after one year, they decided to move back to Denmark to live. They also left behind a son. Mikael Stoffregen, who lives with his wife near Toronto. Henning and Bente's youngest daughter, Marianne, lives in Austria with her husband.
Henning and Bente have made innumerable friends during their 24 year stay in Canada, many of whom were people that Henning had helped through his work in the Danish Foreign Service.
A Memorial Service will be held at St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church, 4020 Grand Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec (corner of N.D.G. Avenue), one block north of Sherbrooke Street (Vendome metro, 105 bus). The service will take place on Saturday, February 20, 1999, at 1:00 p.m. If desired, memorial tributes may be made in Henning's name to St. Ansgar's Church, or the charity of your choice.