website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Helga Henry
1915 - 2004
Helga Bender Henry,
educator and author, died
Born in Cameroon, West
Africa, on
For over 25 years, Mrs.
Henry taught in colleges and seminaries. She was dean of women and instructor
in German at the University of North Dakota Teachers College at Ellendale, 1937
to 1940; librarian and instructor in religious education at Northern Baptist
Theological Seminary, 1940 to 1947; instructor in German at Wheaton College,
1945 to 1947; associate professor of education at Pasadena College in
California, 1951 to 1960; and visiting instructor in religious education at
Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, 1961 to 1966. From 1973,
she was on the board of Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1986 to
1991, she was chairwoman and treasurer of The Elmer Bisbee Foundation of
Washington, D.C. Her biography data appears in "Who's Who In American Education" and in "Who's Who In America."
On
After many years in
education, Helga Henry with her husband moved to Arlington, Va., when he served
as founding editor of a new evangelical magazine, "Christianity Today." She worked with him as an editorial
assistant for some time and continued her interest in writing and editing. They
lived in Arlington for more than 30 years. Besides preparing teacher training
and other curriculum materials, she translated from the German a history of
evangelism by Paulus Scharpf used in numerous schools
as a textbook and distributed in West Berlin to over 100 participants in the
1966 World Congress on Evangelism. She also wrote a 1955 centennial history,
"Mission on Main Street,"
concerning the nation's then largest Gospel rescue mission located in Los
Angeles. In 1999, she published "Cameroon
On A Clear Day," a history of her parents' missionary work and its
continuing legacy.
She accompanied her
husband on overseas lecture and teaching tours and addressed groups in Europe,
Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. She gave lectures at Evangelism
International/Singapore, China Evangelical Seminary/Taipei, and addressed
Christian women's groups in Seoul, Korea, and elsewhere.
The Henrys lived for a
year in Cambridge, England, from 1969 to 1970, for research and writing before
traveling to Eastern Europe for a stint of teaching and lecturing mainly in
Yugoslavia. They retired to Watertown in 1992.
Helga's father, a
native of Baden, Germany, is buried in Soppo, West
Africa, beside one of the numerous Cameroon churches the Benders served. Her
mother, Hedwig Kloeber Bender, from Saxony in
Germany, is interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, Watertown, as is her husband, Carl
Henry, who died in December 2003. Preceding Helga besides her parents, husband
and son are siblings Herbert, Erica, Thorwald, Carol,
Ronald and Armin.
Surviving are a
daughter-in-law, Karen Henry Stokes of Grand Rapids, Mich.; a son-in-law,
William H. Bates of Columbia, S.C.; granddaughters, Kara Henry of Chicago and
Megan Henry of Washington, D. C:; grandsons, Jordan Henry and his wife, Lara,
of Los Angeles and Stephen Bates of Columbia, S.C.; a great-grandson, Jonah
Henry of Los Angeles; and several nieces and nephews.
A service commemorating
the Christian life of Mrs. Henry was held at First Baptist Church of Watertown,
with interment in Oak Hill
Cemetery. The Rev. Allan Kranz officiated.
In lieu of flowers, the
family requested memorials be sent to Watertown’s First Baptist Church or to
Prison Fellowship Ministries of Reston, Va.
The Pederson Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
History of Watertown, Wisconsin