Franz Kamber

Franz Kamber, 80, of Mahomet died at home on Tuesday, June 13, 2017.

There will be a Memorial Mass on Wednesday, July 5 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church (708 W. Main, Urbana) at 9:00 am. Rev. Fr. Luke Spannagel will officiate.

Franz was born in Olten, Switzerland on June 19, 1936, a son of Max and Lydia Winterhalter Kamber. He served in the Swiss military and studied at Solothurn, Switzerland, where he earned his Teacher’s Diploma. He continued his graduate studies at the University of Zurich where he majored in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, receiving his doctorate in 1965. Upon completion of his advanced studies, Professor Kamber moved to the United States and began his professional career at the University of California, Berkeley and later, Princeton. In 1968 he settled in Champaign/Urbana at the University of Illinois as a Professor of Mathematics. Franz was proud to have attained U.S. Citizenship in 1974. He earned retirement in 1994 and has been a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics since 1995 at the U of I.

Franz married Karen Hansmann in Denmark in 1989 and together they have enjoyed traveling the world. Franz was interested in experiencing every kind of art including paintings, music, poetry and literature.