Dr Hans Waldmann, 1920–2013
Dr Hans Waldmann was born on 6 December 1920 in Stettin, Germany, and died on 7 October 2013 in Abbotsford, BC. He graduated from Kiel and Hamburg Universities. After the war he worked at an American hospital in Bremerhaven. He was offered positions in many American hospitals, but kept firm in his decision to immigrate to Canada. He left Germany on 22 April 1952 on TSS Neptunia and arrived in Halifax after a rough trip across the Atlantic. After 2 years at Saskatoon General Hospital he moved to BC to begin his specialty, radiology. He interned at the Jubilee Hospital in Victoria and Shaughnessy Hospital in Vancouver where he was mentored by Dr Andrew Turnbull, who was the chief of radiology. In June 1958 he moved to Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island and began a long and happy practice serving Port Alberni, Comox, Cumberland, and Campbell River. He also opened a small office in Parksville that grew to be a large office and a very busy practice.
He married Mary Ann Brabant in 1960 and they raised two daughters and many German shepherd dogs in Qualicum Beach. Hans loved Canada and Qualicum and said many times what a good decision he had made all those years ago.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann, and daughters Claire (Gary Conrad) and Carol (Eric Picard), four beloved grandchildren, and relatives back in Germany.
—Mary Ann Waldmann, RN
Abbotsford