“Hans” died peacefully in his sleep April 16, 2013, at the Bristol Village Nursing Home in Waverly, Ohio, where he had spent his last years.
Born in Hamburg, Germany, he immigrated with his parents to the United States in 1927. He attended Pompton Lakes (N.J.) High School, but in 1942 at age 17, he was accepted into the Navy’s V-12 program at Princeton. He received his degree in October 1949.
He attended Syracuse College of Medicine (now SUNY Upstate Medical University), where he earned his medical degree with a specialty in obstetrics and gynecology. Hans served two years as a doctor in the Navy before settling in Ridgewood, N.J., where he started a family and a medical practice. He was a popular obstetrician who delivered more than 2,000 babies as the founder of Ridgewood Ob-Gyn Associates. He also was on the staff of the Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and served as chief of staff for obstetrics.
After suffering a disabling stroke in 1987, Hans and his wife divided their time between Sarasota, Fla., and Carmel, Ind. He is survived by Jacqueline, his wife of 25 years; and his children from his first marriage, Laurie Wolynec, Robert Seela, Elizabeth Derr; stepchildren Erin Thompson and Timothy Kelley; and six grandchildren. He was a gifted individual who lived the American dream to the fullest.