Hansheinrich Franzen-Nicholson of Poughquag NY, died at home on Monday, 4 May 2020 in his 91st year, after a prolonged illness.
Hans was born in Bremen, on 11 July 1929, to mother Marie Wilhelmina and father, Martin Franzen, who was an Over-Secretary to the German Railway System. At the outbreak of World War II, Hans was evacuated to a monastery in Salzburg, Austria, and, after two years, to numerous safe locations in Germany. His older brother, Friedrich, was killed on the Russian front in 1943. Following the war, Hans returned to Bremen where he briefly studied music and performed with the Bremen State Opera.
He was sent to Eskilstuna, Sweden, to apprentice with a lumber company, before returning to Bremen and continuing his employment as a technical interpreter with the DeutscheDampfschifffahrtsGesellschaftHansa shipping company. In 1954, he met his future domestic partner, John Boland. In 1957, Hans joined John in New York City, employed initially with Bloomingdales, and later as a used college textbook purchaser and reseller with Barnes and Noble.
In the mid ’70s, Hans and John retired to the summer home Hans had erected in the early ’60s in Poughquag. They took up weaving and spinning, which Hans had learned from Mary Kelly, whom he had met when she worked in the Bard College bookstore. Hans’s business, Golden Fleece Weaving Studios, had several retail accounts in New York City, and two accounts in Tokyo. After John died in 1986, the business faded with the retirement of Hans’s agent.
In 1987, Hans met Phil, who joined him in Poughquag. Hans taught Phil weaving, and the pair was seen regularly at County Fairs and historical events, usually with fellow-members of the Elmendorph Handspinners’ Guild, demonstrating their skills, even while Hans worked as a Respiratory Technician at St Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, and as volunteer EMT and Treasurer of the Beekman Rescue squad. Hans and Phil were united in marriage in Litchfield CT in 2010.
Hans and Phil have been members of Germania of Poughkeepsie for the last decade. They were also active members of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in the Village of Pawling for many years.
Hans is survived by his husband, Phil Franzen-Nicholson, as well as Phil’s children Gregory and Grayce, three grandchildren, and a cousin, Hannelore Simonsen in Germany.
Entombment of Hans’s ashes will be in the Columbarium of St Ansgar’s Chapel of the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York City, at the convenience of the family.
Memorial contributions will be welcomed by Germania of Poughkeepsie, 37 Old Degarmo Road, Poughkeepsie NY 12603.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Horn & Thomes, Inc. Funeral Home, 83 East Main Street, Pawling, NY
