Henrik Klinge, 72

November 18, 2024

Henrik Klinge, 72, beloved father, brother, grandfather, and friend, passed away on November 18, 2024 surrounded by family. Henrik fought numerous bouts with cancer throughout his life, and passed away following an abbreviated battle with PML and metastatic liver cancer.

The eldest of 5 children, Henrik was born in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark on Saturday 15 December 1951 to parents Else and Paul. He attended Krebs elementary school in the heart of the city before the family moved to Kolding to be nearer to grandparents. There, Henrik and his family lived in a large house, Rosenholm. His parents were extremely hospitable people, so their home became a meeting place for friends of Henrik and his sisters and brothers.

Henrik and his siblings all went on exchange student programs with Youth for Understanding and Henrik left for Livonia, Michigan, graduating from an American high school in 1970. Returning to Copenhagen he studied Mechanical Engineering at the Danish Technical University. In parallel to his studies, his business career started by importing electronic watches and also working as a service engineer on transport refrigeration units.

Henrik met the love of his life, Cathy, while she was travelling through Europe after college in 1973. They were united by their spirit of adventure and enormous hearts, which touched people everywhere they went. The couple enjoyed a vibrant social life in Copenhagen and took interesting employment alongside friends at a detective agency and a car rental company, driving rental cars back to Denmark from locations across the continent, sightseeing and enjoying themselves along the way.

After exploring Europe, marrying in Connecticut in 1979, and living in Denmark as they started a family, Henrik and Cathy moved to York, Pennsylvania in 1986 with their children, Allan and Sanne, where Henrik led the family company’s new North American operations.

Henrik’s ambitions and dedication to his family were also reflected in his work. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Paul, who founded the original Klinge business shortly after WWII. Under Henrik’s leadership, the company introduced groundbreaking innovations and revolutionized transport refrigeration – he ran Klinge Corporation for nearly 40 years until his son, Allan, took over in 2022 as CEO, carrying on the family legacy. Henrik felt strongly that being a part of the company was more like being part of a family and that tradition continued with the recent acquisition by of the company by Thermo King.

Henrik was a loyal and steadfast friend, who never failed to charm with his warmth, sense of humor, and smile. He enjoyed traveling the world with family and friends and was known to pop into cities around the world for one of his favorite past-times – playing the dice game Balut with dear friends in the close-knit Danish expat community.

Henrik was preceded in death by his loving wife, Cathy Sherman, as well as his parents, Paul and Else Klinge, and sister Lisbet. He is survived by his son, Allan Klinge and wife, Elina; daughter, Sanne Klinge and husband, James Cartledge; sister, Birgitte Klinge and husband, Arne; brother, Peter Klinge and wife, Iben; brother, Soeren Klinge; grandchildren, Milena, Carsten, David, Charlie, Sabine, Lily, and Isabella; and by countless extended family and lifelong friends.

The family will hold a private celebration of life and requests that anyone wanting to honor Henrik’s memory send donations to Mercy Ships at https://www.mercyships.org.uk/memory/ as this was near and dear to Henrik’s heart.