Henry Christian Isaacson

March 21, 1951 - March 3, 2024 (age 72)

Written by his wife and best friend, Linda.

Henry C. Isaacson, 72, died at his home on Sunday, March 3, 2024, from complications due to bladder cancer. I was with him the moment he passed away around 3:30 in the afternoon.  The red-winged blackbirds had just flown in that day, and it felt like the beginning of Spring.  Our chapter in our life ended that day, but our story began years ago when we first met at the New England Center at UNH in 1974.  Henry was a work-study student, and I was employed at the rapid copy center at the NEC. I liked him right away.

Henry graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1968. Before his senior year, he attended the St. Paul's School summer program in Concord, N.H. He spent six weeks studying the culture of Germany and learning to speak German. In high school, he was enrolled in the Latin program.

Henry graduated from UNH with a B.S. in Business Administration, a B.A. in Economics, and a minor in History.  While a UNH student, he enrolled in early morning stick practice at the Whittemore Center and learned to play hockey. This pastime was his love, and he continued to play organized hockey every Sunday morning at the Rochester Arena. He played defense on the "Old Timers" hockey league faithfully until he reached the age of 60.  I faithfully kept the clock and scoreboard for his team during all those years.

When Henry and I moved to our run-down 1850s farmhouse in Gonic, New Hampshire, in 1977, we knew this was where we wanted to live. We spent a lifetime renovating a wonderful old building, raising geese, adopting stray cats, and creating beautiful gardens on our two-and-a-half acres.

Henry's first job after graduating from UNH was as an accounting manager for New Hampshire Legal Assistance in Manchester, NH.  He would drive the back roads daily to work in his orange super beetle. During this time, we were married in our gardens down back behind our house on August 21, 1982. During this time, Henry also purchased his first John Deere tractor and fell in love with mowing our two-and-a-half acres every summer weekend, creating our own personal park.

Henry's career continued with an accounting manager position at Norman Langlois Beauty Salons and Schools in Dover, N.H., and a few years later, accounting manager at H.E. Harris Stamp Co. in Portsmouth, N.H. During these early years, Henry enjoyed hiking in the White Mountains and achieved his goal of hiking all 47 four thousand-footers.

In the early 1990s, Henry's interests led him to become the owner of "Design Place," a unique interior design store located in Strawberry Banke overlooking Prescott Park. He thoroughly enjoyed setting up his shop with fine furnishings, fabrics, and antiques and kept the business going seven days a week for two years until it was time for his next adventure.

The next chapter in Henry's career was his daily commute to Boston over the next twenty years by C&J bus out of Portsmouth or by the Downeaster at the Amtrak station in Dover.  Henry was the Controller for the Appalachian Mountain Club Headquarters for eleven years, located at Joy Street on Beacon Hill in Boston.  His top-floor office overlooked the cityscape of Boston. He loved his job, and he loved Boston.  He was the liaison between the home office in Boston and the AMC headquarters at Pinkham Notch. During this time, he hiked to all the AMC huts, worked with all the staff and trail crew, and created a good camaraderie between Boston and Pinkham.

It was during the early 2000s that Henry enrolled at the North Bennet Street School in Boston's North End.  He took weekend courses in woodworking, carving, and building restoration.  I joined him by enrolling in bookbinding, book repair, and calligraphy. Our day would end with a beautiful Italian dinner in the North End. Through the courses at North Bennet, Henry learned the art of building fine furniture and how to run wood lathes, planners, and jointers, all the machines he set up in his workshop.

It was also at this time that Henry became interested in Italian motorcycles. He purchased his first Ducati ST3, a great touring bike. I wasn't interested in riding on the back of his bike, so we purchased the Ducati Monster 620 for me. For the next ten years, our summer weekends were spent discovering and exploring the wonderful back roads of Maine and New Hampshire.

Henry's career led him into the healthcare field when he became Assistant Controller at Tufts Medical Center in Boston from 2006-2009. Later, he became Controller of Tufts Medical Center Physicians Organization from 2009 – 2014. This was Henry's most challenging time. He grew in the healthcare field and gained exceptional knowledge in accounting, reporting, financial analysis, and strategic planning. His goal was always to improve the financial process.

From Boston, he moved in 2015 to Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro, N.H., as Senior Director of Finance and Budget.  It was during this time that he was diagnosed with bladder cancer.  Between chemotherapy and radiation treatment at Wentworth Douglas Hospital in Dover, the cancer had gone into remission.  He had regular three-month check-ups and scans that showed no further signs of cancer.

Henry continued working full-time.  He left Huggins to become Accounting Manager at Seacoast Mental Health in Portsmouth, N.H., from 2019 – 2022.  He then had the opportunity to become Controller at Frisbie Hospital in Rochester, N.H.—the closest commute from home he ever had.

During this time, we worked together to renovate our home and build our gardens. We created a half-acre Japanese garden with Japanese stone lanterns and an Italian garden with fountains and stone griffins.

Henry's big love was his library.  His mom was a librarian, and he was nurtured in the love of reading and collecting great books.  A room in our home is dedicated to a beautiful library.

Henry was also very proud of his antique British car, the 1969 Lotus Elan +2.  His best friend, who used to race and build his own race cars, built the Lotus. Henry fell in love with it and purchased it in 2013.  Over the years, they modified it and thoroughly enjoyed working together to make it a great antique road-worthy car.  We drove the Lotus through Boston on two different summers to attend British Car Day at the Lars Anderson Museum. At one of these events, his Lotus took 1st place for best car in his category—a banner day.

For the past ten years, Henry and his best friend, Bill, would attend the vintage car races in Lime Rock, CT, on Labor Day weekend.  It was the highlight of the year.

During his years of traveling to Boston on C&J, Henry made many friends.  This group of friends would get together at Red Hook Brewery on Thursday evenings.  We all became known as the "pirate group." We enjoyed the camaraderie, celebrated each one's birthday with a "pirate" party, and always toasted each other with a Redhook beer and hearty "Arrrr". These friendships have lasted to this day, and Henry couldn't ask for better friends.

Henry never let cancer slow him down. We continued to extend our gardens and work on improving our home. It was a year ago last March that the bladder cancer showed up again. Henry worked at Frisbie Hospital until June of 2023, enjoyed the summer mowing the two-and-a-half acres, and worked in his woodworking shop. The evening before he passed away, we entertained his best long-time friend and his wife at home for a festive dinner, and we chatted till late in the evening. The next day, another best friend came over to build a much-needed railing on our steps that would have helped Henry immensely. Later that afternoon, Henry passed away.

Henry was more than a husband.  He was my best friend and teacher.  I was his sidekick in every project, from working on the tractor to fixing the bathroom faucet.  We supported each other in everything.

Henry loved reading and quoting Shakespeare; his favorite saying is where I close this chapter of our lives together.

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

William Shakespeare

Henry is survived by me (his wife, Linda), his sister, Caroline McMullen, and his nephew, Kevin McMullen, with his wife Cindy and their two sons, Charlie and Kyle.

I want to thank all the great doctors, nurses, and caregivers at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital for their wonderful care of Henry over the years. In lieu of flowers, please support the Seacoast Cancer Center. Donations can be made to Mass General Cancer Center at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, 789 Central Avenue, Dover, N.H. 03820. Link Below.

https://giving.wdhospital.org/