Frans Herman Pothoff M.D.

Frans Herman Pothoff, M.D. 82, of Tucson, died peacefully in his sleep and went to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on April 7, 2009. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Marijan Sieben Pothoff and three children: daughters, Marion Carr (Tim), of Lincoln, NE, Janine Melberg (Mark), of Denver, CO, and son, Tom Pothoff (Denise) of Tucson, AZ. He adored his six beautiful granddaughters, Erin, Rebecca, Kate, Jacqueline, Kelsey and Maddie and they loved their playful "Opa". He was first and foremost a loyal and giving husband and father, and in his professional life was a dedicated and caring family doctor. He spent most of his career in the "golden age of medicine" where he cared for his patients in the office, the hospital and oftentimes in their homes, making house calls. When he retired in 1995, many of his patients wanted him to reconsider, because he was not just a fine physician, but a great friend as well. He enjoyed his retirement gardening and traveling to China, Russia, Indonesia, Europe and his favorite getaway, Hawaii, with his best friend and love of his life, Marijan. Frans lived a full and interesting life. He was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 9, 1926 to Dutch-Indonesian parents. At age 20, after narrowly surviving the Indonesian National Revolution, he and his family left for Holland, where he worked his way through medical school at Leiden University. It was there that he met Marijan Sieben, and on March 28, 1956, they were married. They had their first child, Marion, in Haarlem, Holland, and then immigrated to Pennsylvania, where Frans did his residency in family medicine. Daughter, Janine and son, Tom were born there, and then in 1962, they moved to Tucson. He continued his residency here at the VA hospital, then went out on his own and had a successful private practice. After 20 plus years working on his own, he joined Intergroup Health Plan in 1985, and after ten more years of doing what he loved most, retired. He was a brilliant man of many talents, as he spoke six languages, was a gifted painter, played piano and harmonica, loved to sing in his church choir, the Masterworks Chorale, and playing the part of King Balthazar in the annual "Follow The Star" Christmas production. As a father, he introduced music and tennis to his family and never missed one of his children's performances or tournaments, and often sacrificed his own pleasures to make sure his wife and children were happy. He had a wonderful sense of humor, oftentimes keeping his medical staff in stitches with his silly jokes. But as funny as he was, he was also a man of integrity and was respected for his old country values and morals. A Memorial Service will be held this Saturday, April 11, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 8051 E. Broadway Blvd. In lieu of flowers, his family requests donations be made in Frans' name to the Desert Southwest Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association at 1028 E. McDowell Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85006 or visit www.alz.org/dsw/