Kolder, Dr. Hansjoerg E.

Dr. Hansjoerg E. Kolder, 84, died peacefully at his beloved West Branch farm on Oct. 23, 2011, attended by his family and dear friends.

Hans was born in Modling, Austria, on Nov. 29, 1926, the son of Pastor Josef and Erika (Stokl) Kolder. His gentle, thoughtful spirit was shaped by three generations of Lutheran ministers on his father's side and writers on his mother's side.

Sixteen-year-old Hans was drafted into the German Army during World War II and narrowly escaped death at the Russian front. After two years as a prisoner of war, he enrolled in the first post war medical school class in Vienna, Austria, finishing second in his class. He went on to get his Ph.D. in physiology, focusing on sensory research.

Hans married Anna E. “Sissy” Fleischmann in 1955. Although divorced in 1983, the 1990s found them sharing family gatherings and many amicable conversations over coffee.

In his professional career, Hans felt the most compelling research question was, “Why does it work that way?” In the wake of some airline accidents in the early 1950s, he became a pilot and studied the effects of sudden decompression. He also studied the impact of centrifugal force on spatial orientation while at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and made important pioneering studies of the human electro-oculogram, a technique for recording eye movements. These studies led to a research position at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., in the early 1960s. Hans dreamed of becoming an astronaut, and even applied to NASA.

In the late1960s, Hans was recruited to the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Iowa by Dr. Fred Blodi. After completing a residency in his 40s, he became an enthusiastic teacher of sensory physiology and optics for Iowa residents, and a happy cataract surgeon.

He loved entertaining at his farm and cooking with the residents. He also did medical mission work in Afghanistan, Belize, Brazil, and Jamaica.

After his retirement, Hans dedicated himself to his small Red Angus cow-calf operation, becoming something of a cow whisperer. He loved his simple, quiet lifestyle. Thanks to loving neighbors, loyal friends, and dedicated caregivers, he was able to live out his days surrounded by the animals and land he loved.

Hans will be dearly missed by his sister, Brigitte Kretz (Hans); three children, Veronika Kolder (Roxanne Latimer), Katrin Kolder (Jim Madsen) and Michael Kolder (Jennifer); five grandchildren, Max, Steven, Sarahann, Alice and Josh; and Austrian nieces and nephews.

Please check   in a few days for details of a memorial service that is being planned for November.

In lieu of flowers, if you are able, please direct a memorial for Alzheimer's disease or eye disease research to the University of Iowa Foundation, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, IA 52244-4550; online: .

Published Oct. 27, 2011, in The Gazette