Hans Morawitz
Feb. 6, 1935-Sept. 5, 2017
Portola Valley, California
Submitted by Dana Morawitz

Hans Morawitz passed away peacefully on Sept. 5, 2017. Born in Austria in 1935, he came to Stanford University on a Fulbright Scholarship and left there with a BS, summa cum laude (1956), and a PhD (1963) in Physics.

As a theoretical physicist, he spent his working life at the IBM Research Division in San Jose, with stints of teaching and lecturing in Melbourne, Australia, and both Ulm and Bayreuth, Germany. He also conducted experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC).

A gifted athlete, he played soccer and tennis throughout much of his life. Lunchtime at IBM was more commonly a soccer game, and the backseat of his car always had tennis racquets and balls at the ready.

He loved Ladera (lived on Dedalera Drive for 25 years), open space and community service (served on the board of the Ladera Community Association (LCA), Ladera Recreation District (LRD), and the Committee for Green Foothills), coached both tennis and soccer, and worked hard to try to keep Ladera's public school open.

He is survived by his sister, Christ’l Kustermann, his 2 children and 3 grandchildren: Werner (his wife Laura, and their children Keene, Peter and Audrey of Ketchum, ID) and Dana (her husband Skye Thompson of Mill Valley, CA). His ex-wife Terry (of Half Moon Bay, CA) remained extremely close to and supportive of him throughout his life.

He will be remembered for his shy kindness, his strong family values, his commitment to education and Democratic ideals, his commitment to athletics and his many yellow notepad pages of physics calculations.

Tags: teacher/educator, sports, public service