HENRY CHRISTENSEN

CHRISTENSEN--Henry, III.

Henry Christensen III, known to his friends as Terry, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2012 and died on November 3rd at 72 after five exceptionally wonderful years with family, friends and colleagues. Much loved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and mentor to many, he will be deeply missed. Raised in Madison, NJ, Terry attended The Peddie School, was an honors graduate of both Yale College, where he was managing editor of the Yale Daily News, and Harvard Law School where he was a member of the Legal Aid Society. He joined Sullivan & Cromwell in 1969 and remained until 2007 when he joined McDermott Will & Emery where he established the firm's New York and London Private Clients practices. With an extensive international practice advising multinational families, family offices and trustees, he chaired the International Committee and was a Regent of the American College of Estate and Trust Counsel and was President of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law. In 2015 he was elected Chancellor of the Academy. Terry authored the treatise International Estate Planning and was an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law and University of Miami Law School where he taught international estate planning. His rare ability to bring astute technical reasoning and imagination to his clients' legal problems at the same time he was providing thoughtful, practical advice about the realities of their situation resulted in long lasting, close relationships with clients, earning him the occasional nickname of jefe or consigliere. Terry was actively involved in community and cultural life. He served as a member of the BAM board for 25 years and was the founding chairman of The Prospect Park Alliance in 1987, remaining chair until 2007. During his tenure the budget grew from $40,000 to $10 million. Overseeing the restoration of the Park's 1912 carousel was his first project and restoring the last remaining Brooklyn forest was his last. While everybody loved the carousel which was dedicated to him in 2007, the forest and the park's landscape were his real passion. Always in demand for his sage counsel and cogent advice, he provided steady guidance to many organizations' boards including The Tate Americas Foundation, The Prince's Trust, Young Audiences for the Arts, The Freedom Institute, The Astor Foundation, The Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation and the Peddie School. His passionate interest in history, the ancient world and archaeology led him to join the board of the American Council for Oriental Research, in Amman, Jordan, a permanent research center for Americans working or studying in the Arab world. Lastly but by no means least, love of the theater led him to join the board of Theater for a New Audience in 2007 where, as chairman, he oversaw its 2013 move to Brooklyn into its first permanent theater, The Polonsky Shakespeare Center, a brilliant glass jewel box. A passionate reader, he constantly returned to Austen, Hardy and Woolf and To the Lighthouse was on his bedside table, half re-read when he died. In his spare time he went to the opera. He met his wife Constance Cumpton in September 1958 on the first day of freshman year at Madison High School, married her in 1967 and they celebrated their 50th anniversary this summer. He is also survived by children Alexander (Susan), Gus (Courtney Booth), Elizabeth and Katherine, four grandchildren and a sister Karen Cheeseman. A memorial service will be scheduled in early December. Contributions in his memory may be made to Theater for a New Audience and the Prospect Park Alliance.