In Memory of a Great Teacher
February 01, 2002
To: Faculty and Staff
From: James A. Brander, Associate Dean, Faculty
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It is with great regret that I must pass along the very sad news that Len
Henriksson has passed away. The actual cause of death was a stroke and the
doctors now believe that Len initially had small stroke that caused the
original symptoms and then had a more severe stroke a few days later.
There is a memorial service tentatively scheduled for February 9 at the
Highland United Church in North Vancouver but we do not yet have
confirmation on the precise time. I will pass along the information as soon
as we get it.
I am waiting to hear back from the family regarding whether they would like
to designate a charity that people could contribute to in memory of Len. We
will also provide some form of recognition for Len at UBC.
If people want to send cards the address to send them to would be Mrs. I.
Henriksson, 990 Essex Road, North Vancouver B.C. V7R 1V9. This is the
address of Len’s mother.
I would recommend holding off on sending flowers until we learn of the
family’s wishes. It would also be best not to try to reach Mrs. Henriksson
by telephone. Needless to say, the family has a lot to handle right now.
In addition to being a very conscientious and well-liked instructor, Len was
a tremendously public-spirited person who did a great deal for UBC Commerce
above and beyond the call of duty. We will miss him very much.
—
Len was a very approachable, funny, and caring teacher and even though I thought the class he taught was very boring, the way he taught made many of the things interesting. He was the most eccentric teacher I’ve ever had, me and a friend call him Kramer because he really was like the Seinfeld guy. I remember he brought a keyboard in one day and started playing a song and somehow tied it into his lecture (he plays the church organ weekly I think). Then, he brought in excerpts of a radio interview he did on the Raith Mair Show (sp?). I think it was his fifteen minutes of fame but he squeezed all the juice out of it. And what I respected the most was that he genuinely cared about his students, which is something that’s lacking in almost every professor at UBC. He even took some classes to ‘teach’ us real, applicable stuff like job hunting tips, talking about his life experiences, and things that don’t come into context of Comm 394: Government & Business. His passing was a real shocker to everyone and I hope that everyone who has met him remembers how he made a difference in your learning. He made me realize that not all profs are emotionless monsters.
