Captain William Charles Behn

William Charles Behn an Army Captain,who participated in the 1944 invasion of Normandy, and went on to acareer in international business, died on April 19,2015, in Saint-Jean-de-Luz,France. He was 91 years old. Mr. Behn was born in New York City on February 1, 1924, the son of Sosthenes Ricardo Ludovic Behn and Margaret Dunlap Behn. He was one of three children, including brother Edward ’41 and sister Margaret. Mr. Behn studied at The Buckley School in New York and the McJanet School in Neuilly, France, before arriving at St. Paul’s as a First Former in the fall of1936. He participated in Le Cercle Français and competed with the fencing team. When not at school, Mr. Behn enjoyed spending the summers abroad with his family. Following his SPS graduation, Mr. Behn attended Harvard, but was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943, serving until 1946.In June of 1944, he participated in theinvasion of Normandy at Omaha Beachand was decorated with a Purple Heartand several other commendations. Hewas in the reserve service from 1946 to1962, attaining the rank of Captain Signal Corps USAR.In 1952, Mr. Behn married Maria(Conchita) de la Conception Galán Bradamante and the couple raised three children, William Sosthenes, Aphra, and Monica Maria.Mr. Behn served as president of the Havana Docks Corporation and as a boardmember of the Radio Corporation of Cuba until Fidel Castro confiscated American businesses and property in Cuba in 1960. Having lost everything, including his St. Paul’s School diploma, which was later reissued, Mr. Behn moved his family to Madrid, Spain, and then to Miami, Florida.He served on the board of Behn Brothers,Inc. He could speak and write fluently in English, Spanish, and French, and moved fluidly among several nations. After moving again – this time to Paris, Mr. Behn, along with a few fellow Amer-icans living abroad, established the International Self Service Incorporation,the first automatic laundry machine company in France. He retired soon after to Saint-Jean-de-Luz with Conchita, his children, and grandchildren. After Conchita died in 1995, Mr. Behn continued to live in France, near his son,and traveled often during his retirement, mostly to visit his daughters and their families in Spain, and Florida. Sadly, Mr. Behn was also predeceased by two of his children; his daughter, Monica, in 2004 and his son, William Sosthenes Behn, in 2006. He is survived by his daughter, Aphra B. Lesocur; five grand children; five great-grandchildren; and many friends and relatives.

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