Reet Lind Henze, who passed away in Huntsville on January 20, 2021, was born in Haapsalu, Estonia, on August 18, 1940, to Pastor S. Eduard and Helgi Lind (nee Rae). In 1944 as WWII and the Soviet Union swept over their homeland, the Lind family was forced to escape from Estonia to Germany where the family lived in a Displaced Persons’ Camp in Geislingen, Germany. In 1949 the Lind family emigrated to the United States and settled in Minnesota. She lived with her family in various places in Minnesota, graduating from Foley High School in 1958. She earned a B.S. degree in Nursing from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, in 1962 and an M.S. degree in Nursing from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1964, where she met her future husband William Henze Jr. They were married in August 1966 and welcomed triplets (Karlin, Jennifer, William III) in August 1968. The family then moved to Bloomington, Indiana, in September 1968 and to Boston, Massachusetts, in September 1970. In May 1973, they moved to Huntsville where Reet joined the faculty of the recently formed College of Nursing at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She earned a D.S.N. Degree at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1993. She taught nursing at UAH until her retirement in 2000 and also served as Interim Dean for 2 years.
She and Bill traveled extensively after retirement, especially enjoying large summer family gatherings and many cruises, both on oceans and rivers. She was a member of All Saints Lutheran Church in Huntsville. She and Bill also shared a love of classical music, attending many local concerts. Also in retirement she volunteered at the Community Free Clinic.
She was preceded in death by her daughter, Karlin. She is survived by her husband, Bill; her sister, Miriam Lagus (husband Arne) in Wisconsin; and brother, Mart Lind (wife Marsha) in Minnesota; and by her children, Jennifer Otto (husband John), with grandchildren, Emily and Andrew in Oro Valley, Arizona, and William Henze III (wife Bethany), with grandchildren, Benjamin, Kimberly, Henry, and Daniel in Coppell, Texas.
Visitation will be at Laughlin Service Funeral Home at 11:30 AM on Sunday, January 24, followed by a Funeral Service at 12:30 PM. Burial will be at Huntsville Memory Gardens in a private family service afterward.
