March 29, 2007

OBITUARIES

Henning von Gierke

As a young man he was required to serve in the German army. On Hitler’s orders he was among a group of “volunteers” who were sent to support Franco in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39. He often emphasized the extent to which Germans in the ’20s and ’30s were fearful of Communism. He saw himself as “fighting the Communists” in Spain and returned as an officer, only to be told that he could no longer serve because he had a Jewish grandmother. He spent World War II as an obscure laboratory worker.

However, in 1945 an erudite study he had written about the effect of loud noise on humans caught the attention of the American occupying force. They were just then starting to explore the effects of jet noise. He was invited to come to the United States as part of project “Paper Clip” and was launched in a research career in biophysics at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Henning and his wife Hanlo settled in Yellow Springs in 1959, soon after he started working at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. They have been active in the community throughout the years.

From 1956–88, he was the director of the biodynamics and bioengineering division at the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory. Under Henning’s direction and guidance, the biodynamics and bionics programs contributed significantly to the solution of biomedical problems confronting military aviation, civilian aviation and the NASA space program. Many of the biodynamic, human tolerance, health and design criteria for the manned space programs, the highway safety programs and the national noise control program emanated from this division.

His was a long and remarkable career. Yellow Springs folks will remember him as the star singer in the Oberufer plays at Christmas. In his retirement he was committed to working for the local Friends Care Community. He was instrumental in its founding and as a member of the board, he was involved in its expansion to include assisted living, independent living and future apartments. He enjoyed strategic planning for the Friends Care Center and brought considerable energy to its board, even into the last year of his life.

Henning was the recipient of many honors and awards, including the gold medal of the Acoustical Society of America, the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service award, and in 1981 he was awarded the Distinguished Executive Award by the president of the United States.

In addition to his long and distinguished career, Henning was a devoted husband and father, and later, a warmhearted grandfather. He had an avid interest in the musical, athletic and educational activities of his children and grandchildren, and was never at a loss for advice and support. As a senior citizen he entered the computer age with great enthusiasm, maintaining lively, and sometimes provocative e-mail relationships with friends, family and former colleagues.

He was preceded in death by his daughter, Susi, who passed away in 2002.

He is survived by his wife, Hanlo, his daughter, Karin, and her husband, Peter Croton, and their children, Lukas Henning and Johanna Maruko.

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, April 11, at 3 p.m., at Rockford Chapel.

Ethel Marie Hyman (Hetzler)

Ethel Marie Hyman (Hetzler) died on Feb. 18, at St. Rose’s Hospital near Oakland, Calif. She was 87.

Born and brought up in Xenia, Ethel was the last of the five children of Louis and Eva Hyman who lived on Market Street near the library until 1941 when Eva died. The five children who are all now deceased were Isadore (“Hy”), Arthur, Bertha -(Boxwell), Maurice (“Buck”) and Ethel.

Ethel wed Stanley A. Hetzler and eventually moved with him and their son, Steve Hetzler, to a house in Yellow Springs. The family lived for a year in Beirut, Lebanon, when Stanley taught sociology at the American University at Beirut. Ethel completed her B.A. degree there and later taught sophomore English at Dayton’s Northridge High School and English literature at Sinclair College in the 1960s following her divorce from Stanley Hetzler. In 1971 she moved to California to be near her son who completed studies for a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. Ethel worked at several office assignments in San Francisco and lived for a year in Charleston, S.C., when her son tried to find a teaching position in Dixie. They returned to the Berkeley area in 1985 and enjoyed life in Northern California.

Ethel is survived by her son, Steve -Hetzler of Oakland; Maurice’s children, Lynn Lumpkin, Holly Harmon and Tad Harmon of the Seattle area; and Arthur’s children, Susan Couzens and David Hyman, now in Florida and Kentucky.

For all who knew her, Ethel will be remembered for her warmth, good humor and amiability.

Jocelyn W. Nelson

Jocelyn W. Nelson, 82, of Xenia, passed away Thursday, March 22, at Friends Care Center. She was born Aug. 18, 1924, in Clinton, Ill., the daughter of William G. and Helen (Edmondson) Watt.

Jocelyn was a registered nurse, retiring from St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Ill. She proudly served her country during World War II, working as a nurse in Saipan.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Robert Nelson; and a son, Mark Alan Nelson.

She is survived by son and daughter-in-law, Robert W. and Carey Nelson of Yellow Springs; daughter and son-in-law, Donna and Richard Karney of Houston, Texas; daughter-in-law, Julie Nelson; brother and sister-in-law, William T. and Lorraine Watt of Jacksonville, Ill.; grandchildren, Rachael Nadal, Layla Besson, Ethan and Rebecca Nelson; great-grandchildren, Taylor and Sydney Nadal and Russell Besson; and her special companion, Itty Bitty.

She will be interred next to her husband at the Dayton National Cemetery during private services.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Jocelyn’s memory to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.

Mary B. Leuba

Mary B. Leuba of Raleigh, N.C., formerly of Yellow Springs, died on Saturday, March 24, at Wake Medical Center. She was 80.

She is survived by her husband, Richard J. Leuba; two sons, James F. Leuba of Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada, and Sanford H. Leuba of Pittsburgh, Pa.; two daughters, Suzanne L. Mealy of Knightdale, N.C., Valerie L. Quade of Los Angeles, Calif.; one brother, James Bernard of Captain Cook, Hawaii; 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Private services were held.