Ronald V. Wiedenhoeft

Ronald V. Wiedenhoeft, Professor Emeritus from Colorado School of Mines, art and architectural historian and principal photographer of Saskia Ltd., died on August 14, 2010 after a lengthy illness. He was 73. Ron graduated from Cornell a civil engineer in 1959. He received numerous scholarships and awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Bavarian State in Germany and two Fulbright grants. He taught at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the University of Utah, 21 years at the Colorado School of Mines and was Visiting Professor at the Technical Universities in Vienna and Graz. Publications include ""Cities for People: Practical Measures for Improving Urban Environments"" in 1981, ""Berlin's Housing Revolutions: German Reform in the 1920s,"" in 1985 and many articles (also in German) on urban planning. He lived in Germany a number of years and was fluent in German as welll as knowledgeable in French and Italian. Ron taught for 21 years in CSM's Department of Liberal Arts and International Studies. Introducing students to the delights of art and the impact of urban studies, he encouraged them to travel and broaden their experiences beyond engineering. He had high standards and strong moral principles. His principal passion was the photography of fine art and architecture. Typically while teaching, every summer was spent in extensive travel in Europe photographing in major museums like the Louvre in Paris, Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, Prado in Madrid and Uffizi in Florence. A special project in the late 70's to document all monuments in St. Peter's Cathedral resulted in an exhibition at the Denver Art Museum, among others. With his former wife, Renate, he established Saskia Ltd Cultural Documentation in 1966, selling his images to universities and museums for teaching purposes. With his present wife, Emily FitzRandolph, he photographed the rich cultures not only in Europe but also in China, India and Mexico. Born in Milwaukee of German-born parents, Kurt W. Wiedenhoeft and Victoria Oestreich Wiedenhoeft (both deceased), Ron had lived in Littleton since 1979. Besides his devoted wife, Emily, Ron is survived by his daughters, Sonja Palmqvist (Sweden), and Sabina Dugan (Maryland), his son, Kurt (Denver), and six grandchildren, his brother, Ralph (Wisconsin), his sister, Gloria Strauss (Missouri), his stepchildren, Pamela and Peter Stramese, his stepmother, Hildegard, numerous nephews and nieces, as well as Renate, his business partner and former wife. Memorial gifts can be made to: CSM Foundation Ron Wiedenhoeft Memorial Fund P. O. Box 4005 Golden, CO 80401 A Memorial Service will be celebrated on Saturday, August 28, 10:00 AM at The Light of Christ Anglican Church, 4000 West Yale, Denver, CO 80219. Private interment will occur on Sunday at Mount Lindo.