Ariulf Eric Hampe; worked on early rocket technology
A German immigrant who seemed to know a little about everything, Ariulf Eric Hampe liked to describe himself as an engineer, inventor, gardener, carpenter, and musician.
Those were interests the father of 16 enjoyed sharing with his children, whether waltzing around the room with a child balancing on the tops of his feet or taping the Morse code to the bathroom wall, where all in the household would be certain to notice it each day - and hopefully master it.
Mr. Hampe, a retired electrical engineer, died of colon cancer May 28 at home in Pembroke. He was 86 and had been a resident of Canton, Ohio, until returning to Massachusetts recently to be with family.
His pride in his children kept him going for months after cancer began to weaken him earlier this year, said his daughter Helga Bussema of Wellesley.
"I asked him why he was holding on so much," she said. "He said, 'I'd like to see you all accomplish great things.' That brought him a lot of joy, and I didn't ever realize it."
Mr. Hampe, who went by Eric, was born in Tetschen, Czechoslovakia, near the German border, an area that frequently switched from Czech to German control, his daughter said. Mr. Hampe spoke and considered himself German, and studied electrical engineering at a German university before war broke out in the country.
In Frankfurt, he met Erika Hasselhuhn at a dance. The couple married in Germany in 1950 before Mr. Hampe immigrated to Canada in 1951. That year, his wife gave birth to the couple's first child, and in 1952, they joined Mr. Hampe in Canada.
Mr. Hampe learned English while working as a dishwasher as he sought work as an electrical engineer. After about five years in Canada, Mr. Hempe found a position with the
"He liked to say his ideas 'went to the moon,' " said Bussema, who said her father worked with the team of rocket scientist and fellow German Dr. Wernher von Braun.
In 1965, Mr. Hampe moved his family to Connecticut, where he designed communications systems for submarines at General Dynamics, she said.
In 1967, he transferred to the company's Quincy location, where he worked on Navy ships. He settled in Wellesley. In 1975, he retired and began working part-time as a consultant for companies such as Dennison Manufacturing and 3M, his daughter said.
In 1983, Mr. Hampe and Erika divorced.
In the spring of 1985, he met Holly Marrone through mutual friends. At 22, she was 40 years his junior, but Mr. Hampe "looked and acted much, much younger than his chronological age," said Holly Hampe Hall. They were married that year, she said.
In a span of 10 years, the couple had eight children.
"We lived in Hull overlooking the ocean, and we often took walks along the beach," Hall said. "When people would ask Eric if our children were his grandchildren, he would proudly say no, and would love to see the surprised expressions on people's faces when he said they are his children."
"He loved dancing, and when the children were cranky . . . Eric would dance and dance with them to the music of Johann Strauss or German folk music until they would fall asleep," Hall said.
He also kept up his hobbies of gardening, carpentry, swimming, and tending honeybees.
In 2001, Mr. Hampe and Hall divorced, and he moved to Ohio. He became a Freemasons grand master, his daughter said.
In addition to Bussema, Mr. Hampe leaves nine sons: Charles of Belmont, N.H., Arnold Eric of Louisville, Ohio, Theodore of Athens, Maine, Fredrick of Wellesley, Willie of Canton, Ohio, Kurt and George, both of Quincy, and Anton and Richard, both of Pembroke; six other daughters, Margot Linda, Barbara Hansberry, and Doris Erica Gruber, all of Wellesley, Valerie of Quincy, Karen Ghazi of New Haven, and Monica of Pembroke; 25 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Services have been held. 