Jorgen Borch Kolle

pix,2i JORGEN BORCH KOLLE

JORGEN BORCH KOLLE, who was one of a kind and a character in every sense of the word, died Friday, September 1, 2006 at his home in Bethesda, Maryland.

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark on April 24, 1923, Jorgen began his career in the travel industry in 1939 as a clerk for a steamship company. Jorgen was active in the Danish resistance against the German occupation in World War II. Work in the resistance was so secret and compartmentalized that it was only later that Jorgen learned that his father had been engaged in parallel missions. Although not formally acknowledged as one of the "Righteous Among the Nations" (the term used to describe those who at great risk to themselves saved Jewish lives), Jorgen has been called "a modest hero" by Danes and others who knew of his contributions during the war in the savings of lives of Danish Jews.

In 1944, when German Intelligence became aware of his underground activities, Kolle was forced to escape to Sweden.

Jorgen had developed a strong appreciation and love for all types of music, including jazz, opera and swing, so in Stockholm Jorgen briefly worked as a music critic for a local newspaper, and then began actively assisting in the resettlement of Jewish Danish refugees. He then returned to Copenhagen, worked for SAS and became a station manager.

Jorgen immigrated to the United States in 1952. Working alongside two fellow Danes in New York City for Trans World Airlines as a ticket agent, these three friends had just enough money to rent a small room with only one bed, so they each worked different shifts (Jorgen had the midnight shift) so that while the other two were working, the third would be able to have the bed.

Jorgen then moved to Washington, DC, first joining Lanseair Travel in 1954 and soon after he became its vice president. He then founded Ober United, the oldest

independent travel agency in the country. Jorgen made Ober the fifth largest travel agency in the

Washington area. Sales eventually grew so that Ober placed in the upper 10 percent of travel agencies in the nation. Jorgen was a founder of STAG, the Society of Travel Agents in Government, and he was also a founding father and former president of ARTA, the Association of Retail Travel Agents.

Jorgen had several successful adventures. For example, when he was unable to find the authentic Scandinavian pastries and breads he so enjoyed, he opened "The Danish Baker" both on Bradley Boulevard and in Potomac Village.

More newsworthy, perhaps, was Jorgen's testimony before the United States Congress, when he blasted proposals for deregulation of the airlines, suggesting that consumer safety and the health of the airlines, themselves, as well as the travel industry, would be jeopardized by removing governmental controls. For many years Jorgen loved to throw darts at a puppet of Alfred Kahn, the proponent of airline deregulation.

Among Jorgen's acknowledged successes was his having orchestrated the advance work for Jacqueline Kennedy's triumphant visit to India in 1962. Jorgen was a master of detail, and it was he who planned the much-photographed elephant ride by Mrs. Kennedy.

On November 2, 1974 a headline proclaimed on the front page of the Washington Star-News "STELLA, YOU DRESSED UP THE WATERFRONT"! The newspaper recounted the visit by the 300-foot cruise ship Stella Maris to Washington, the former transatlantic ship having been leased by Jorgen's Ober United. Arranging for the Stella Maris to depart from Washington was a real sensation for the time. Jorgen was a leader in both wholesale and retail travel, and his knowledge of cruise ships is legendary. It is interesting to recall that Jorgen inaugurated the entire certification program for travel agents. Furthermore, Jorgen is remembered as a dynamic and charismatic tour leader, who himself escorted corporate groups such as Hotpoint, General Electric and Westinghouse to more than 81 countries!

A true visionary in the travel industry, Jorgen was successful in gaining the in-house travel account for the National Institutes of Health.

A more recent success was his partnership with his wife Diana in the ownership of their French restaurant, Le Vieux Logis, in Bethesda.

A man of very strong opinions, Jorgen was known by some as "the wise old owl", and by others, as "Yogi Bear". His sharp wit was dryer than his favorite Absolut martini! He had a passionate devotion to bridge, badminton, music, his garden and his fish pond. The give and take of reasoned debate with friends was one of his real pleasures.

Fish were very important to Jorgen! (And not only imported Danish herring for the restaurant!) Today, NIH has fish tanks throughout offices and the Clinical Center as a result of Jorgen's collaboration with the chief of the outpatient department at NIH. Both men recognized that fish tanks can have a notable therapeutic effect in reducing stress.

He loved his Bethesda garden and planned each landscaping element.

He was known to be a man of intense integrity. One of Jorgen's favorite maxims was "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything".

Jorgen Kolle is survived by his wife, Diana Zeiger Dahan, of Bethesda, a son in Denmark, Klaus (Anette), from his first marriage to Gerda Gilboe, with grandchildren Valdemar and Marie; from his second marriage to Polly Thompson, a daughter, Karen Pickett (Tim), of Clarksburg, Maryland, with grandchildren Laura, Kirsten, Kellie, Morgan and Meagan, and great-grandson Frank; and a son, Clay (Kay), of Derwood, Maryland, with grandchildren Amber, Ben and Erin.

Jorgen held very dear the memory of his brother, Mogens, who died one year ago.His marriages to Gerda Gilboe and to Polly Thompson ended in divorce.

Jorgen Kolle was a man who made it his life work to insure that the voyages and the journeys of others were memorable. What we remember most about Jorgen Kolle was his warmth, his smile, and the love which he shared with his fellow passengers on his own journey throughout his life. Remaining with Jorgen's family and friends is the memory of a man with the warmest of smiles, a twinkle in his eye, and a soul full of goodness.

There will be a memorial service for Jorgen Borch Kolle at his home, Friday, September 15 at 11 a.m.