Gisbert H. "Bert" Flanz

Flanz, Gisbert "Bert" H.

Gisbert ("Bert") H. Flanz, longtime resident of Hastings-on-Hudson, died Sunday, April 26, 2015 at age 98. Born September 1, 1916 in Liberec, Czechoslovakia, to Artur and Ruzena Jaurisova Flanz, Bert immigrated to the United States in 1939.

Beginning in 1946 and until his retirement in 1982, Bert was a professor of Political Science at New York University. Many of his former students continued to look to Bert and his expertise in constitutional law and, although "Bert" to his family and friends, he remained "Professor Flanz" to many.

Bert received his law degree in Prague in 1939, after which he taught at Princeton University until 1943, when he began three years of service in the United States military. Beginning as an anti-tank gunner, Bert served in Europe from 1944 - 1945. His fluency in German quickly resulted in a transfer to intelligence. In addition to interrogating German soldiers during the war, he was called back to Princeton to instruct American generals on the intricacies of Nazi governmental systems. Bert received his doctorate degree in Political Science from Princeton in 1946.

While in Princeton, Bert met the Southern belle who would become his wife of 72 years, Elizabeth ("Beth") Winship. They married in 1942 and their son, William, was born in 1944. That same year Bert became an American citizen. The family moved to Westchester County and soon included the happy additions of daughters Katherine and Elizabeth and son Richard.

As a visiting professor, Bert brought his young family to Ankara, Turkey in 1954. In 1961 he was a visiting professor in Jamaica and, beginning in 1962, was one of two foreign advisors to the Republic of Korea, assisting in the drafting of its constitution. He then made many trips to Saigon beginning in 1966, advising on matters of legislation under a new constitution.

The culmination of Bert's scholarly knowledge of the complexities of constitutional law was the creation in 1971 of the Constitutions of the Countries of the World. Working together with Professor Albert Blaustein of Rutgers University, this semi-annually updated reference material became Bert's great passion. For over three decades, Bert continued to publish authoritative texts on constitutional law and comparative political science.

Together with Beth, Bert was a fixture in local Hastings community affairs. He was one of the founders of the Rowley Bridge Trailways Project, a past president of the Hastings Historical Society, an active member and Deacon at Grace Episcopal Church, and a frequent lap swimmer at the Chemka Pool in Hastings. After his "retirement", they enjoyed traveling to their properties in Wildcat, West Virginia and Gilboa, New York. Their love of the outdoors included avid mushroom hunting, landscaping their many acres and, as friends will attest, Bert's deft facility with the construction of dry-stone walls.

Bert was preceded in death by his wife Beth and his daughter Katherine. Son William and his wife Janet of Hong Kong; his daughter Betsy and her husband Bob of Franklin, Massachusetts; and his son Richard of Oneonta, New York, survive him. His grandchildren Ellen, Kenneth, Katherine, and Brian, as well as his most recent delights, his great-grandchildren Shane and Grace already miss their "Pop-op".

Please join in celebrating Bert's very large life - all are welcome. A service of remembrance will be held at 10:00 am on Saturday, May 2nd at Grace Episcopal Church, 78 Main Street, Hastings-on-Hudson, followed by burial at Mount Hope Cemetery with a return to the parish hall for a memorial luncheon.