Inger Margrete Holm Morse Obituary (1921

OWL'S HEAD - Inger M. Knudsen Holm Morse, 91, passed away peacefully, August 9, 2013 at Pen Bay Medcial Center in Rockport. Born in Egedesminde, Greenland, October 8, 1921, she was the daughter of Aage Knudsen, assistant governor of a district in western Greenland, and his wife Else Smidt Knudsen.Born into a world different than many people will ever experience, Inger found the snow and ice of Greenland, the long winters and the midnight sun of summer, a paradise of personal growth and discovery.At age 6, Inger had her own dogsled with three dogs, given to her by her father after she spent a year training one dog to obey the commands essential to dogsleding.At the age of 7, Inger went to boarding school in Denmark with her younger sister Helga. She returned to Greenland between school years and later became, as far as can be ascertained, the only female at that time driving a dogsled, complete with a full team of sled dogs. Among other activities, Inger used her ability as a sled driver to guide explorers and scientists to the polar ice cap, starting them on their expeditions. She accompanied her father on trips to the sometimes remote settlements, with at least one journey seeing the two gone for an entire month.As a teenager in the 1930's, she worked as a translator in the local hospital, allowing Danish doctors not fluent in Inuit to more accurately diagnose their Greenlandic patients. Her work included helping in the tuberculosis wards of the time, despite her mother's misgivings about the danger of infection. Then, as always, Inger was unafraid and willing to help anyone despite the risk.Inger's natural affinity for language extended well past the initial exposure to Danish and Inuit. By the time she was in her twenties, she was fluent in not only her first two languages, but also German, Swedish, and Norwegian. Later, when the family was on assignment from 1963 to 1968 in Montreal, she learned a good deal of French. Staying at a hotel in Fiji in the early seventies, she was the first guest to learn and speak an entire sentence in Fijian. The hotel staff was so delighted and impressed that they invited her to their village as a guest of honor. While Inger was home in Greenland before starting university in Denmark, World War II broke out. With Europe under siege, Inger stayed in Greenland and continued her work as a translator, helping the U.S. military in their dealings with the Inuit, visiting remote settlements and helping her mother run the household and cook for the increasing numbers of visitors - many of them connected with the military in World War II - who came through the Knudsen household.It was during that time that Inger met her husband to be, Gunnard Holm, an American who was the United States Consul posted to Godthab. Married in 1945, Inger and Gunnard traveled widely in their work at American Embassies throughout the world, moving first to Norway, then Germany, the United States, back to Germany, then on to Canada, Australia and Singapore.Inger and Gunnard raised four boys, and Inger continued to care for children at a daycare in Hampstead up until Gunnard's death in 1997.In 2001, she moved to Owl's Head, Maine, and married Dr. Edward K. Morse.Dr. Morse, a surgeon who in 1948 served aboard the arctic exploration vessel the Schooner Bowdoin, was a life-long friend of the Knudsen family.Inger and Ed spent a very happy time in Owl's Head, looking out over the ocean, reminiscing about their adventures, staying involved with the local community and thoroughly enjoying each other's company.Looking back, Inger Knudsen Holm Morse led a charmed life indeed, but that is undoubtedly because she herself was so charming. She sang Inuit lullabies to Barbara Streisand, cooked for Julia Child and danced with Elvis Presley. Even more than that, due to the circumstances of her birth and the circumstances of her extraordinary character, Inger grew to become one of the most remarkable human beings that, according to everyone she encountered, you could ever have the good fortune to meet. Virtually all of Inger's friends unwaveringly called her their best friend, their closest confidant and the person who understood them best and supported them most. What higher praise can a person receive?She is pre-deceased by her sisters Kirsten Knudsen and Helga Morse, and hervfirst husband Arvid Gunnard Holm. She is survived by her husband, Edward Morse of Owls Head, twin brothers Ib Knudsen and his wife Elizabeth of Scotland, Per Knudsen and his wife Dorte of Denmark; her sons, Arne and his wife Chris of North Carolina, Erik of Australia, Bill and his wife Jeri of Camden, Edward of North Carolina; a step-son Chris Morse of Cumberland; her grandchildren, Emma Louise Smith of Australia, Shane Davis of Rockland, Max Holm and Katie Holm of Camden; sister-in-law Dorothy Hunt, a niece; several nephews; as well as extended family and lifelong friends the world over.A celebration of Inger's life will be held in September, with details to be announced.Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland. To share a memory or condolence with Inger's family, please visit her Book of Memories atwww.bchfh.com. 2b:[] 2e:{"type":"","url":""