Hans was born in Kiel, Germany of a German father and an Austrian mother. He was hidden in Poland during the war. The family emigrated to America in 1950, settling in Buffalo where Hans became an American citizen. He graduated from Cleveland Hills High School.

After Freshman year when he roomed with Phil Stewart and John Gunnell, he became a member of Saybrook College. In 1960 his parents returned to Germany, and Hans followed, not resuming at Yale after Sophomore Year. Hans completed his studies at Darmstadt University in Germany, earning his degree in Mechanical Engineering.

In Darmstadt he met and wed Uta Haering, who was from Frankfurt, Germany. They lived for several years in Germany and then came to the United States in 1969 and settled on Long Island. Hans and Uta were married for 37 years and had two children: a son Thomas, now an attorney in Pensacola, Florida, and a daughter Caroline, an architect in Boca Raton, Florida. He also left two grandsons, Tyler and Jonathan, and a granddaughter, Heidi.

Hans worked as a mechanical engineer in New York for 19 years with Schenck-Trebl, a manufacturer of precision balancing instruments, having frequent contact and projects with NASA. In 1988 Hans and his family relocated to Boca Raton where he moved into the sales field for his company.

In 1994 Hans started his own business, Boca Technologies, a consulting engineering company. "He was so happy at last to be his own boss," Uta recalls.

Hans was "very handy and very patient," she said, "Making our own furniture, working on our sailboats and generally around the house. He was also a wonderful cook and took charge in the kitchen." In addition to sailing, his hobbies included scuba diving.

"We were a very close knit family," Uta reported. "Everyone spoke both German and English at home. However, all of us had accents, I, German, the children, American. Only Hans was equally comfortable in either language without an accent. Hans was so very proud of having been at Yale but, being a shy person, was reluctant to return to New Haven after so many years, despite my urging." He still retained at home his copy of the Old Campus directory from September 1958. She also added, with a laugh, "Although he always said he was 100% American not a German, he did, after all, marry me!"

Hans died of lung cancer. "At his request, I arranged for him to come home at the end, and he died in my arms. I still miss him every day," his widow concluded.

In Memoriam | Obituaries Index | Yale '62 Home