Christine Henson, also known as “Tini,” and “Chris” to her friends and to her family, and affectionately known as “Grandma Angie” to her grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren, passed away on July 20, 2020. She was 96 years young. Christine was born September 29, 1923 in the village of Nieblum on the island of Fohr, Germany. The island is in the North Sea.

Christine had three siblings. Marion, Dorothy (Dati) and Henry. She is only survived by one sister, Dorothy.

Several times during her childhood years Christine would cross the Atlantic on ocean liners with her parents. Her father had a delicatessen in New York City, and would travel back and forth from the U.S. to Germany. Christine loved the ocean, and her grandfather was a sea captain.

Due to WWII, Christine came to live in New York City. She worked for her father in his delicatessen, and was also for a time a model for Powers Modeling Agency. After the war, she was a waitress at Buck Hill Falls, a resort in Pennsylvania, where one day she looked out the dining room window and saw a bulldozer operator named William (Bill) Henson. The two married and Bill took his bride to meet his family in Gladewater, Texas. The heat in east Texas was a little hard on Christine, so due to having some of her family living in Humboldt County the pair decided to move up to Arcata. Bill soon became a logger, and had his own logging truck.

The couple purchased a home in the Sunnybrae neighborhood and had three children. Stephen, born in 1951, Diana, born in 1954, and Anita, born in1958. In 1967 Bill was killed in a logging accident in Fieldbrook. Left with three children, Christine faced this challenge with courage. She worked at several jobs over the years to support her family.

Christine’s joy in life was her family. She is survived by her three children, Stephen Henson and his wife Marcia, Diana Henson, and Anita Chittenden and her husband Wayne Chittenden; her grandchildren Jeremy Henson and his wife Dusty, Marisa Miller and her partner Kevin; her great-granchildren Chelsea Love and her husband Jasper, Tayler Henson, Kasey Henson, Makenzie Henson, Sierra Miller and Lucas Miller. She is also survived by two great-great grandchildren, Carter Love and Aubree Love. Also by one nephew, Alex Auer and his wife Kathy, and one niece, Else Marie Schmidt. Also two cousins, Donna K. Sorensen and her husband Gary, and Clifford Sorensen and his wife Donna.

Christine was very social and had many friends. She loved to talk and visit with them. I know they will miss her dearly. Also her many neighbors in Sunnybrae whom she cherished and who did so much to help her. Peggy Martin and her husband Jim, also Gary and Pat Taylor. Her next-door neighbors Eve, and also Nancy Reichard, and there are many more. She also had many hobbies and interests. She loved to travel, and visited many localities – Europe, Bermuda, Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii, and many other states in the U.S. She also loved to cook and was famous in her family for her gravy making skills during the holidays. She was particularly popular for her German dishes and her cottage cheese pancakes.

One of her other main hobbies was gardening. She took great pride in her garden, her flowers and vegetables. Her idea of complete contentment was to be outside digging in her garden!

“To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord…” 2 Corinthians 5:8

The family would like to thank Frye’s Care Home in Eureka for the loving care they gave to Christine. They went above and beyond to make her comfortable and to feel safe and secure. Also thanks to Paul chapel for their assistance and final arrangements. Due to Covid restrictions, no funeral is being held at this time.