Dr. Hans Wolfgang Losken lived 82 full and joy-filled years. He held many titles. His favorites were: husband, father, grandfather, brother, son, doctor, surgeon, teacher, mentor, colleague, gardener, painter, sculptor, tennis partner, ski-buddy, mission volunteer, and friend.
Wolfgang and his wife Daisy were a formidable team in the plastic surgery circles in South Africa and the United States, in their leadership roles in Marriage Encounter, in parenting, and on the tennis court. Married for over 55 years, they showed old friends and new friends a warmth and caring that made them immediately memorable.
Wolfgang was born on February 7, 1940 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa fifteen minutes after his twin brother Helmut. They joined their older brother Rolf as a family of 3 energetic boys born to German immigrants, Helene and Hermann Losken. Wolfgang’s lifelong dream to become a physician was realized when he graduated from the University of Cape Town Medical school in 1963. He went on to train in surgery and plastic surgery.
His 50 year career in plastic surgery spanned many continents. After training in surgery and plastic surgery, he spent 15 years in private practice in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa where he was the co-founder of the Pietermaritzburg Craniofacial Unit. He and a team of over 2 dozen physicians and medical professionals volunteered their time every other Friday to perform complicated surgeries on patients from all over South Africa and other parts of Africa. In Apartheid South Africa, Wolfgang got permission to operate on all patients of all races at Grey’s Hospital. He worked hard for the best outcome for every patient. Each patient and colleague has their own stories of Wolfgang’s caring and kind reassurance and clinical expertise.
In 1988, Wolfgang took his clinical experience to the University of Pittsburgh where he served as the Chief of Pediatric Plastic Surgery for 12 years. He loved teaching the next generations of plastic surgeons and was described as the consummate clinician and a world class teacher. His bedside manner with patients and their parents was always remarkable. In early 2000, Wolfgang joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC. After he retired from his full time position, he focused on his next favorite stage of his career as a mission surgeon. He served on many missions to almost every continent, often accompanied by Daisy. His specialty on these trips was performing cleft lip and palate surgeries and creating ears. He loved to teach local surgeons so they could perform the surgeries themselves. During his career, he published hundreds of papers, book chapters and abstracts on his work and spoke regularly at national and international meetings.
In 2016, Wolfgang retired from mission work and skiing when the tremors of Parkinson’s made continuing both impossible. Never one to look back, he embraced his favorite hobbies of gardening, painting, sculpting and riding his bike while traveling whenever he could. He relished his role as grandfather to 8 grandchildren.
Wolfgang lives on in the lives of many that he touched with his expertise, kindness and love. He is survived by his wife Daisy and by his children Erica, Bert and Monica, his sons-in-law Mike and Rick and his grandchildren Heather, Kirsten, Ashley, Katelyn, Olivia, Graham, Madeline and Alex as well as his brothers Rolf and Helmut. A family Memorial Mass and celebration of his life was held in Cary, NC on October 9, 2022.
Never far from our thoughts and always in our hearts, we will always miss him.