His passion for the outdoors took hold in his native Sweden, where he boated in the summer and skied and skated in the winter.
He started as a builder there but decided to settle in New Zealand after visiting his sister, who’d married a Kiwi, in Auckland in 1973.
She took him tramping, but knowing there were more mountains in the South Island, he moved to Ohau in 1976, where he worked in ski patrol in the winter and building the rest of the year.
There he met his wife-to-be Dot.
After visiting Sweden for six months they settled in Queenstown.
The couple bought a section near the Old Shotover Bridge where Hans built their family home — they had two children, Ingrid and Katrina.
In ’87, Hans joined council as a building inspector, staying for three months shy of 30 years.
He and Dot met Barbara and Neill Simpson through the Wakatipu Tramping Club, and lent a hand rebuilding a hut on Lake Whakatipu’s Pigeon Island.
After a fire on the island in ’96, he became a trustee of the Wakatipu Islands Reforestation Trust which spent 15 years planting natives and eradicating predators on Pig and Pigeon Islands.
After the Simpsons formed the Whakatipu Reforestation Trust in 2013, Hans became one of its most active stalwarts.
When Katrina took up rowing at Dunedin’s Columba College, Hans and Dot both decided to have a go.
Hans helped revive the flagging Whakatipu Rowing Club, becoming a dedicated masters rower and also maintaining the club shed and grounds at Lake Hayes.
He served as president and for his efforts was made a life member — club members formed a guard of honour at his memorial service.
At the service, Katrina said: "Although mostly a quietly spoken man, his cheeky sense of humour shone through.
"I’ve never known someone to be so dedicated, helpful and kind to everyone he encountered."
Dot says he was quite organised and took people as they were — "he never really complained about anyone".
On his retirement he received a mayoral citation recognising his "dedication to recreation and the environment".
