Hans Krimm

Hans Heinz Krimm died unexpectedly, on April 12, 2020, after a brief illness. Hans Krimm was born on January 8, 1933 in Tallinn, Estonia to Hans Riiberg and Alice Anniko Riiberg. After his father died, shortly after Hans’s birth, Alice remarried Walter Krimm, who adopted young Hans. The family fled from Estonia in 1945, as the Russians invaded. They escaped to Germany, living in a displaced persons camp until 1949, when they came to Baltimore, Maryland.

On a scholarship, Hans attended Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a B.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in philosophy. There he met the love of his life, Dorothy Hansel, who he married on July 23, 1955. In 1960, they moved to Utica, New York, where Hans taught at Utica College.

In 1963, the family relocated to Colorado Springs, where Hans began a long career, teaching philosophy at Colorado College. Hans taught philosophy of science, symbolic logic, epistemology and philosophy of education, and initiated the college’s first environmental ethics course. Hans proudly taught at the Aspen Institute for several summers. He retired from Colorado College in 1998.

In addition to his deep love for his family and satisfying his unceasing curiosity with stimulating discussions, his passion was the out-of-doors and its wildlife. Hans, always with Dorothy or his children by his side, loved hiking, camping, bird and animal watching, and Rocky Mountain National Park. An ardent environmentalist, he was a member of many national conservation organizations. In Colorado Springs, he was a co-founder of the Palmer Parks Foundation (now the Palmer Land Trust), and active member of the Aiken Audubon Society and SPABA. Hans also belonged to the Estonian American National Council, and in Colorado Springs, the First Congregational Church and Round Table.

Left to grieve and to miss him deeply are his wife, Dorothy, son Hans Albert Krimm, daughter Myra Krimm Hansen, daughter-in-law Linda Krimm, son-in-law James Hansen, and five grandchildren: Lilli, Charles and Mary Hansen and Audrey and Amy Krimm.

A memorial service will be held in the summer. Memorial donations may be made to the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region or EarthJustice.