Courant, Hans Age 94, of St. Paul, passed away August 21, 2019. Hans was born on October 30, 1924, in Göttingen, Germany, the third of four children in an academic family. Hans's father, Richard Courant, was a prominent mathematician. His mother, Nina (Runge) Courant, a musician, was the daughter of Carl Runge, another prominent mathematician. In 1934, at age 10, Hans came to the U.S. with his family to make a new home outside Nazi Germany. Family lore has him shouting "Guten Morgen, Tante Liberty!" from the deck of the S.S. Stuttgart as their ship came into view of the Statue of Liberty. He would later say that this was when his life really began. Hans attended high school at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, leaving after his junior year to enroll at MIT. Drafted into the army in 1942, he served in Los Alamos and was among those to witness the Manhattan Project's Trinity Test in 1945, a life-changing and awe-inspiring experience. In 1946 Hans returned to MIT, where he earned a doctorate in Physics. He then went on to be a Fulbright scholar in Paris, an assistant professor at Yale, and an NSF fellow at CERN, finally settling in as a professor at the University of Minnesota, where he founded the high energy physics group. Always gregarious, Hans made friends wherever he went. And he went lots of places: New York City to run the marathon (marathon-running being something he started in his 50s); Europe for sabbaticals, mountain-climbing adventures, and (with wife Dixie) visits with friends and family; and Alta, Utah, for an annual ski trip with family and friends (skiing being something he continued enthusiastically through the age of 89). Witty and charming, Hans was always ready to make conversation with those around him; to offer dark chocolate to friends, family, and ski lift operators; and to delight his grandchildren with whatever came to hand, be it a surprisingly lifelike handkerchief mouse, a floating ping-pong ball, or - to the dismay of their parents - a drinking-straw blowgun, good for propelling toothpicks. Hans was married twice: to Maggie (Spaulding) Courant, from whom he was divorced in 1979; and to Dixie (Cardarelle Hayday) Courant, who predeceased him in 2017. He is survived by seven children and stepchildren: Martha Courant, Ted Courant (m. Laura Konigsberg), Tim Courant (m. Carol), Elisa Hayday, Kim McConnell (m. David), Mark Hayday (m. Mary Pampusch), and Andria Hayday (m. Troy Denning); by 11 grandchildren: Miranda Courant-Morgan (m. Dulcea), Katherine Hicks-Courant (m. Aaron Schwartz), Alex Hicks-Courant, Elliot Courant, Phoebe Courant, Jack Courant, Miles Courant, Kevin McConnell (m. Emily), Marissa Hayday, Karina Hayday, and Elena Hayday; and by 1 great-grandchild, Dina Schwartz. Memorial service to be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Doctors Without Borders or the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.