Henny Engel, née Sichel was born in Fulda on September 15, 1890 as the fourth child of the merchant Jakob Sichel and his second wife Sara, née Blum. Jakob’s first wife Fanny Trepp had died in 1887. Henny Sichel grew up in Fulda in Karlstrasse 42 (the apartment was located above the store) with lots of brothers and sisters, two half siblings from her father’s first marriage and eight siblings from his second marriage (See Datenbank Genicom). Her father ran a manufacture and men’s fashion shop in Fulda.

Henny Sichel married the Bad Kissingen merchant Viktor Engel, who had lost already his second wife in 1914, and moved to the Franconian spa town after their marriage. In August 1920, their son Martin was born.

Only little is known about her further life. The family lived in Bad Kissingen at several places, among them Schönbornstrasse, Pfaffstrasse, and Ludwigstrasse. In December 1934, his parents sent their only 14-year-old son Martin into the United States, where he was welcomed by his Uncle Josef Sichel. In July 1937, Viktor Engel and his wife emigrated to New York. Henny’s husband had only few years left to live in his new environment. He died on January 11, 1943 in Manhattan at the age of 65. Henny Engel outlived him by more than three decades and died in New York in August 1977 at the age of 86.