Henry C Kellenbence

Henry Charles Kellenbence passed away on May 12, 2021 at Southern Ocean Medical Center. He was predeceased by Rita, his beloved wife of almost 69 years. He is survived by his daughter, Susan Messner and son-in-law, Edward and son, Wayne and daughter-in-law, Maryjane. Henry was the loving grandfather to Jeff Messner and his wife Debbie and Chris, James, and Nick Kellenbence and their wives, Katee, Caroline, and Cristina. He was also the beloved great-grandfather to Julia, Jackson, Robby, Danny, Emme, Claire, Henry, Jack, and Ella. Henry was also predeceased by his mother Helen and two brothers, Walter and Rae and will be greatly missed by his sisters-in-law, Marcy Kellenbence and Gloria Koellhoffer.

Henry was born in Belleville, NJ on August 26, 1923 and lived there most of his life before moving to Manahawkin, NJ in 1987. While a resident of Belleville, Henry was a member of the Masonic Temple of Belleville, served on the Belleville Township Planning Commission, and was an elder at Montgomery Presbyterian Church. A Tarpon Springs, Florida snowbird, Henry tutored high school students in Algebra 3 and several times was chosen as volunteer of the year.

Henry was a veteran of World War II, having enlisted shortly after graduating from high school, trained in the Army Air Corps, and became a bombardier in a B-24 bomber. His aircraft was shot down behind enemy lines in Romania and the crew survived with the help of farmers and townspeople who hid them until the Resistance could return them to Allied Forces. After WW2, Henry attended Stevens Institute of Technology on the GI Bill, graduated with an engineering degree, and retired from IBM Corporation after a career of 35 years.

Henry and his wife, Rita loved their Atlantic Hills Community and were glad to help out whenever possible from delivering the community newsletter to fixing the sprinkler system. However, most important to them both were the friends they made there and the fun they had in their twilight years.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Juvenile Diabetes Foundation at JDRF.org

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