We mourn the loss of Dr Walter Kurpiers (11.07.1934 - 26.06.2024), who passed away shortly before his 90th birthday.

Walter Kurpiers studied theology, Latin and sport to become a teacher in Innsbruck and Münster. From 1966 until his retirement in 1999, he worked as a senior academic councillor at the former Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences of Sport at the University of Münster. He made a particular contribution to the promotion of water sports at the university, especially rowing, as well as snow and winter sports.

As a passionate skier, he developed the one-ski method for ski training together with the Münster biomechanist Prof Dr Georg Kassat, which is still used today both in university teaching and in teacher training courses.

Due to a personal stroke of fate, he founded the project of ski camps for children with cancer and their families in rehabilitation, which is still successfully carried out every year in the Zafernahütte by the Institute of Sports Science in cooperation with the paediatric oncology department of the UKM.

In "Donald", as he was known to students and colleagues alike, the Institute of Sport has lost a much-loved and recognised sports educator.

Our thoughts are with his wife, his children and his entire family.