WOLFGANG FRANZEN

FRANZEN, Wolfgang Age eighty-nine, of Cambridge, MA, died March 27, 2012. "Wolf", as he was called by friends and family, was born in Dusseldorf, Germany on April 6, 1922. His family left Germany due to the rise of Nazism when he was fourteen years old. They moved first to New York City and then to New Jersey. His mother was Elizabeth Hellersberg, a psychoanalyst. Wolf graduated from Haverford College, PA in 1942. He then attended Colombia University, where he met his future wife, Cola Wakefield, who was a student at the Columbia School of Journalism. Wolf and Cola were married in June of 1943. In 1944 he received his M.A. and was inducted into the US Army. After the army he continued his graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania where he studied experimental physics. Wolf got his PhD in 1949 in the field of atomic physics. From there he went to Princeton University, then on to the University of Rochester as an assistant professor for three years. He spent a year as an exchange professor at the University of Basel in Basel, Switzerland before moving to Cambridge, MA where he worked as a technical consultant for five years at Arthur D. Little. He joined the physics faculty at Boston University in 1961 and remained there until he became a professor Emeritus in 1987. Wolf was awarded a NATO Senior Fellowship in 1970, which he spent at the University of Toulouse, France. In 1977 Wolf spent a three month long stay in Bogotá, Columbia where he served as a Fullbright lecturer at the National University. From the years of 1987-1995, he worked at the Army Research Lab in Watertown, MA. Wolf held four patents and spoke four languages. He and his wife traveled widely, and occupied their summer home in Harvard, MA for over forty years, where Wolf loved to garden and enjoy the beauty of nature. Over the years, he became a very good cook. Wolf is survived by his beloved wife of sixty-nine years, Cola, his brother, Ulrich Franzen, an architect, and his wife, Jo, five nieces and nephews, and a wide circle of friends and colleagues. Friends may offer condolences from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Wednesday, April 4 at the Stanton Funeral Home, 786 Mount Auburn St. (Rt16), Watertown, MA. A private burial will follow. A memorial service will be announced the first week of May. Please call 617-354-0897, at that time, for further information. Should friends desire, memorial contributions may be sent to: The Wolfgang Franzen Scholarship Fund at Coyote Trails School of Nature by calling (541)482-0513 or online at www.coyotetrails.org. Wolf, you will always be remembered fondly in the hearts of those whose lives you touched. Thank you. www.stantonfuneralhome.com