Henrik E. "Hank" Stafseth was born April 14, 1919 in Lansing, Michigan. He graduated from East Lansing High School in 1937. He attended Michigan State College (now Michigan State University) and graduated in 1942 with a B.S. in Engineering. He was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, Beta Kappa social fraternity, and American Society of Civil Engineers (A.S.C.E.). Stafseth served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. On May 15, 1948, Stafseth married Lillian Carisch O’Brien (January 20, 1917 - June 10, 1975) in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Stafseth worked as an engineer for the city of St. Joseph, deputy director and then director of the Michigan Department of State Highways from 1965 to 1972, engineer-manager of the Lenawee County Road Commission (1952-1955) and the Ottawa County Road Commission (1955-1965). From 1972 to 1980, he served as the executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

In 1960-1961, Stafseth was a delegate of the Michigan Constitutional Convention. He was president of the County Road Association of Michigan in 1960, the 1983 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Transportation Research Board and Michigan Transportation Hall of Honor in 1988.

On February 19, 1977, he married Jane Rice Johnson in Arlington, Virginia. Stafseth died March 18, 2011 in Rotonda West, Florida.