Bente Stoffregen: Bente was born on March 26, 1920, the second child and only daughter of Anders and Thyra Silbye. After graduating from school she studied to be a nurse, funding her studies by working at the telephone company in Copenhagen.
After WW2 was over she married her childhood friend, Henning Stoffregen who had recently returned from Germany where he was stationed in Hamburg at the Danish Consulate during the war. Shortly after the wedding, Henning started working at the Embassy in Reykjavik, Iceland. Bente, who hadn’t quite finished her nursing studies, followed him a few months later.
Bente did some office work at the Embassy until her children Jette and Mikael were born. After 7 years in Iceland, the family were sent to Athens, Greece, where, in time, Marianne was born. Henning and Bente made the acquaintance of many Danish artists while in Greece (one of which is Grethe Bagge, who became a close friend), as well as other Danes that lived and worked in Greece at the time. One of these was Dagny Kjærsgård, a Danish author, another was Knud Kristensen, who started a dairy in Tatoï, where the Greek Royal family had a summer residence.
It was not until 1957 – 1961 that Bente was able to ply her trade as a nurse, while the family lived in the Østerbro part of Copenhagen.
Henning was posted to the Danish Consulate in Montreal from 1961 until his retirement in 1984, at which point he decided to sell their house and move back to Denmark. For Bente it was a very painful decision to leave 2 of her children behind as well as her grandchildren. While in Montreal, Henning and Bente made many lifelong friendships and attended St. Ansgar’s Church.
Henning passed away in Denmark in 1999. Bente had a bout with Cancer in 1998 but everyone thought it was licked. In 2005 Bente had a stroke from which she never really recovered. After that, her health became fragile. After Christmas 2006 it was discovered that the pain Bente had been suffering from was not osteoporosis, but the cancer that had reared its ugly head again. She had surgery two times within a week, followed by radiation therapy. It was a downhill battle from then on. Bente passed away, mercifully, in her sleep on February 9, 2007.
She leaves her two brothers, Ib (Rita) and Ole (Ida); her three children, Jette (Tony), Mikael (Ruby) and Marianne (Max); her 3 grandsons, Simon (Erin), Peter (Ruth), and Erik; 4 great grandchildren (plus 2 more on the way) and 6 nieces and nephews to mourn her passing. In her last weeks Bente was concerned, not for herself, but for her unborn great-grandchild and her mother, enduring yet another high-risk pregnancy. Bente faced her illness with great courage and no complaints. Bente was a warm family person and friend, one you could always come to for help. She will be sorely missed.
Jette Blair