Henry Steffens ’61

Henry W. Steffens, 84, of Midland, died March 15, 2024, at Primrose of Midland.
He was born September 18, 1939, in Holland, Michigan, the son of the late Henry J. and Margaret J. (Westveer) Steffens. On January 26, 1963, with the late Rev. Dr. Orville H. McKay officiating, he married the former Carole A. Shrader at the First United Methodist Church in Midland. Henry and Carole enjoyed 61 years of marriage.
He earned a B.A. degree in Psychology from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, in 1961 and a M.A. degree in Industrial Management and Technology from Central Michigan University in 1974.
He served as a military personnel officer in the Strategic Air Command’s 379th Combat Support Group at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Michigan, from 1962 to 1965, service for which he was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal and received an honorable discharge. He was employed by The Dow Chemical Company in, successively, Business Information Systems, the Human Resources Development Center and Marketing Communications from 1965 to 1993 and then by Allis Information Management in Data Services in Midland from 1994 to 2009.
When his sons began playing sports, he managed their Northwest Little League Baseball teams in Midland for several seasons and later coached their teams in the Midland Amateur Hockey League, also for several seasons. He and Carole were avid golfers and day hikers and hiked extensively together in the Canadian Rockies in the province of Alberta, the U. S. National Parks in Utah, the Adirondacks in New York, and more recently part of the famed Milford Track within Fiordland National Park in New Zealand.
Surviving besides his wife Carole are sons Robert W. Steffens and his wife Marianne of Traverse City, Michigan, and Dr. David J. Steffens of Clovis, New Mexico and Christine Mueller of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He is also survived by his sister Gretchen E. Robert of Paris, France, and two nieces, Anne E. (Christophe) Robert-Richard and Marie-Pierre (Tayt) Robert-Baldwin, also of Paris.
He was a long-time member of the First United Methodist Church in Midland.