Johannes Scheltema

Johannes (Hans) Scheltema, Age 79, August 11, Lanham, MD: Doctors' Community Hospital, of cardiac arrest following a severe illness. He also had Alzheimers' disease. Retired from the State of Maryland Department of Health in 1992, where he worked as a health physicist for many years. Previously worked as a lab technician for the National Institutes of Health and for University of Maryland General Hospital. After retirement, volunteered with a York County Pennsylvania group to monitor water quality in the Codorus Creek. Also delivered meals on wheels for the Area Agency on Aging.

Resided in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania until recently, when his family moved him to the Washington area to supervise his medical care. Born in Lawrence, Kansas on December 14, 1927. Family moved to Takoma Park, and later Bethesda, Maryland in the late 1920s. Attended St. John's Military High School in the District of Columbia, then George Washington University. While a student at GWU, he was drafted into the US Army during the Korean conflict and served in West Germany as a medic. He completed his education on the GI bill and received a BS in Zoology from George Washington University in 1959. Met and married Grace Heckman Scheltema in May 1961, who survives him, with his four children: Christina Scheltema and Hans Scheltema of Washington, DC, Katrina Sweeney of Matawan, New Jersey and Rose Scheltema of Venice, California, and one grandchild, Grace Sweeney. Also survived by two brothers: Walter Scheltema of Mitchellville, Maryland and Rudolf Scheltema of Falmouth, Massachusetts and one niece and several nephews. Marriage to Mary Kim ended in divorce.

Volunteer boy scout troop leader in Parkton, Maryland in the late 1960s and early 70s. Avid outdoorsman who led numerous family hiking and backpacking trips for the Greater Baltimore Sierra Club with his children in the 1970s. Held a long-time interest in alternative energy sources - commuted to his work by bike in the 1970s, long before this was fashionable, and developed rooftop solar hot water systems for his home. Moved to York County, Pennsylvania in 1977, where he spent years working on his dream to live with his family self sufficiently, off the power grid, and to raise his own food.