brother - more

Henri Louis Dehon (1839 - 1922) was Leo's older brother. He was very much like his father and carried on the family business, by selling beer, in his love of agriculture and the breeding of horses.

Henri Dehon was married to Laura Longuet (marriage in 1864), and they had two daughters.. The younger, Lauria Amelia Enrichetta, was born in 1868, married in 1889, and died in 1896 without having any children. The older, Marthe Marie Louise, was born in 1865, married first to Malézieus Desire and later to Count Roberto de Bourboulon with whom she had three sons. She died in 1951.

The relationship between Fr. Dehon and his brother Henri, as it appears in his correspondence, was a cordial one. For example, Fr. Dehon goes to La Capelle to celebrate his brother's name day. He is host to Henri when after the death of their parents they go to their tomb to pray. Fr. Dehon spends time with Henry and his family by the seashore at Cannes upon his return to France from Rome.

Henri Dehon was mayor of la Capelle for nearly 30 years and councilman (conseiller général) of Aisne. He always promoted the cause of the Church. Remembering his death in 1922, Fr. Dehon wrote in his diary: “Sunday the 19th, my brother became very ill at his children’s home in Paris. I hastened there and I was present for his final hours. His was a beautiful death, very Christian, surrounded by all his family. The Superior General of the Fathers of Sion had given him the last rites. He was a just man. His life had been very dignified and generous. We were always very close. My brother had been an apostle through the example he gave of a serious Christian life.” (NQT, XLIV/1922, 42)