Gary kielhofner cause of death

Gary kielhofner death
Dr.
Gary Kielhofner is one of the 100 influential people in occupational therapy's 100 year history.

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About the KCF

A personal message from Kristian Kielhofner:

The KCF (Kielhofner Community Fund) was started in 2010 shortly after the death of my father,Dr. Gary Kielhofner. My father was a very important force in my life and his death was a great loss. In the days and weeks after his unexpected death I found myself trying to figure out how to "best" deal with such a tragedy.

I was always somewhat aware of my dad's work but I had no idea just how much it has contributed to other people's lives. As testimonials and support poured in from all over the world in the weeks after his death I only started to realize how big of a loss his death was to the world, not just to my family and I. It was all very, very humbling and I want to thank everyone who expressed their sympathy and support in those first trying weeks.

My dad combined a great man with an incredible work ethic and a great occupational therapist. Looking back at it now that was a big part of his parenting and was likely ingrained in me from an early age. Of everything in my life I am most thankful that I

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Gary Kielhofner was just 6 years old when his grandmother lost a leg in an auto accident.

The once lively and engaging woman could have gotten a prosthetic leg but instead spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair, believing that without a leg, she could no longer lead a fulfilling life.

That served as inspiration for the longtime UIC professor, who later embarked on a career helping the disabled as one of the leading experts in occupational therapy.

“He was only 6, yet intuitively knew that people with disabilities could still lead productive lives,” said his wife, Renee Taylor, also an occupational therapy professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dr. Kielhofner, 61, of Lake Geneva, Wis., the former head of the occupational therapy department at UIC, died Thursday, Sept. 2, at Mercy Hospital in Chicago, after a short battle with cancer.

In the 1970s, before completing a doctorate in public health at UCLA’s neuropsychiatric institute, Dr. Kielhofner began work on a model to help understand the psycho-social challenges faced by people with disabil

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Dr. Gary Kielhofner

He eventually held faculty positions at USC, UCLA, Virginia Commonwealth University and Boston University, before becoming occupational therapy department head at the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1986.

Kielhofner held the Wade/Meyer endowed chair at that university after 2000, and he received honorary degrees from universities in the United States and abroad. In addition to his academic pursuits, he was an avid bicyclist and horseman, along with being a gifted woodworker and guitarist.

He is survived by his wife, Dr. Renee Taylor of Chicago; two children, Kristian Kielhofner of Sarasota, Fla., Kimberly Kielhofner of London; his parents; four sisters, Andrea Sachse and husband Bob of Jackson, Connie Newton and husband Ken of St. Joseph, Mo., Dr. Marcia Kielhofner and husband Ed Hudson of Sugar Land, Texas, Gail Smith and husband Tim of St. Louis.

A funeral celebration will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Chaffee, with the Rev. Ralph Duffner officiating.

Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee is in charge of arrangements.