Henry Brandtjen, Jr

Henry Brandtjen, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Brandtjen & Kluge, Inc., a St. Paul corporation established in 1919 specializing in manufacturing printing equipment, passed away quietly at home, having put up the brave fight with cancer, surrounded by family, on January 4, 2014.

Henry was born in 1928, the second son of Henry and Gladys (Roussopoulos) Brandtjen. He graduated from St. Paul Academy (SPA) in 1946 and always credited the school with instilling in him a desire to continue his education throughout his life. He enjoyed the fact that his graduating class continues to meet monthly and took great pride in knowing that his granddaughter is the fourth generation to attend the school.

Henry went on to graduate from the University of Minnesota in 1952 with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering where he was also a member of the Chi Psi Fraternity. Upon graduation, Henry served in the US Army and, in 1955, he went to work at the family business and became the third generation to run the company.

With the rapid advancement of offset printing technology, the market the company then dominated, letterpress printing, was coming to an end. Henry researched what the company could transition to and steered it into the market it continues to be the world leader in today: foil stamping, embossing and die cutting equipment. In the 1960's the company earned the prestigious E Award for export excellence from the US Government and followed that up with the E-Star Award for continued excellence. In addition to being a YPO member, Henry was honored with the Corporate Gegenheimer Award by NPES, the trade association that serves printing equipment manufacturers. In 1992 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Printing Impressions and in 2005 the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Foil Stamping and Special Effects Association (FSEA).

In the 1960's, Henry earned his private pilot's license and went on to own his own airplane which he used for both business and pleasure. Henry continued to fly his own plane into his 70's.

Always the believer in taking care of one's body and a lover of the outdoors, Henry never shied away from a challenge. Henry canoed to the Arctic Circle, peddled his bike across Europe multiple times and yearly took on the Minnesota Ironman. In 1978 Henry found his passion when he went heli-skiing with Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH). He continued to heli-ski until he was 75 and eventually skied over 10 million vertical feet. The friends he made while skiing with CMH and the company itself honored him the Silver Skier Award in 1989. When diagnosed with cancer in March 2013 he immediately headed to Vail to ski with his family.

Henry went back to college and in 1977 earned his Master of Arts in Psychology from Lone Mountain College in California and went on to specialize in prenatal therapy. His work in psychology became a calling for him that he continued to explore for the rest of his life. He eventually opened his own private practice and cherished the assistance he gave others in getting in touch with their feelings and emotions. It was this facet of his life that lead him to exploring the great religions of the world including Christianity, Muslim, Buddhism and Shamanism. Henry believed in the spirit world and firmly believed in moving on to the next life.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Henry & Gladys and brother, John. He is survived by his two children, Julia Mitchell Fink (Michael) and Henry Brandtjen, III (Kirstin); four grandchildren, Jerry Mitchell, III (Jessica), Charlie Mitchell, Isabel Brandtjen and Henry Albert Brandtjen, IV.

A Celebration of Henry's Life will be held Saturday, January 11th at 11 AM at BRADSHAW, 678 South Snelling Avenue at Eleanor, St. Paul. Visitation 1 hour prior to the service. Memorials are preferred to Brandtjen Family Endowment c/o Saint Paul Academy, 1712 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105.

Bradshaw
678 South Snelling Avenue
651-698-3878