Kristofer William Hess

Kristofer William Hess, age 52, died on July 9, 2024, in Hamburg, Germany. Kristofer was born the son of William and Carole (Baumgardt) Hess, on February 3, 1972, in Wausau, WI. He married Gudrun Nobelmann on July 2, 1995, in the Town of Maine.

Kristof, as he preferred to be called, grew up in Wausau, Wisconsin, attending Maine Elementary and Wausau East High School, from which he graduated as Valedictorian in 1989. Throughout high school and college, he worked as an IT Specialist and legal intern at his father’s law firm in the earliest days of personal computing and networks. Kristof was in the International Baccalaureate program at Wausau East and focused on German and travelled with his instructor Darlene Lee and other students to Germany. That was the beginning of his love of Germany and its language and history.

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1992 with double majors in Mathematics and European History. He spent his junior year abroad at the University of Bonn studying European History. Kristof was a Fullbright Fellow studying German Legal History at the University of Cologne in 1993/94. He also was a graduate student in European History at the University of Bonn in 1993. It was in Bonn that he met and fell in love with Gudrun.

Although he had a love for math, physics and history, Kristof chose to become an attorney like his father. He graduated with a Juris Doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1997. He passed the Wisconsin Bar Exam and was sponsored by his father to the Wisconsin State Bar.

He clerked for Judge E. Grady Jolly, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 1997/98. On learning of Kristof’s death Judge Jolly wrote, "he was the most brilliant law clerk l have had in my 42 years on the bench." Kristof’s creative writing flair can be glimpsed in some of the decisions he helped craft during this clerkship. In 1998, Kristof joined the international law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP and worked in its Washington D. C., New York City and London offices. In 2006 Kristofer became the youngest partner in the firm’s history at the time. His daughter Grady was born in 2003 in New York City. Kris and Gudrun separated several years later, and Gudrun and Grady moved to Germany. Kristof earned many frequent flyer miles travelling back and forth between New York and Hamburg to spend time with his family. In 2013 he chose to retire from the stress of law practice and move to Hamburg to be close to and continue to support his wife and daughter.

Kristof had a photographic memory and an encyclopedic knowledge of history, among other subjects, and was always able to tell an amusing historical anecdote that was an ironic metaphor for our times. As a teenager, he patiently taught his sister Jodi how to drive a stick shift vehicle, and 20 plus years later allowed her to drive his prized Porsche Boxter on the Autobahn, saying "just try to keep up with the traffic, at least 120 mph," while he proceeded to take a nap in the passenger seat.

He was always sharing his knowledge and would have made an excellent teacher. His brother Justin remembers all the time Kristof spent teaching him about electronics, computers and programming when they were younger. Justin and his friend Mark have fond memories of playing WWII simulator computer games for hours and hours together with Kristof on separate computers, until eventually Kris would get bored with the game, come up behind his team and end it with friendly fire. Every time Kristof came home from wherever he was living at the time, he would bring fun new technology and activities with him, and he would insist on nightly campfires or on sitting around the fireplace at night in the winter.

Kristof was extremely generous, and used his finances, resources and knowledge to help and support many people throughout his life without a second thought. His often-stated philosophy was to "do the things that you want to do and go the places you want to go now while you can." He lived this philosophy, traveling the world throughout his life and retirement, texting and emailing many pictures of the sights he was seeing and the interesting food he was eating. Kristof also delighted in planning extravagant international vacations for his family and friends, full of beautiful, historical and culinary adventures. One of his favorite books was James Michener’s Tales From the South Pacific, and he would sometimes muse about finding a tropical island to live out his days on a beach.

He loved animals, long phone conversations, new technology, international cuisine, investing in businesses he believed in, and a good practical joke. He will be missed tremendously, and the world will be a lot less interesting without him.

Survivors include his wife, Gudrun Nobelmann and his daughter Grady Nobelmann, both of Hamburg, Germany, his parents William and Carole Hess of Wausau, his sister Jodi (Brian) Peters of Wausau, his brother Justin (Nicole) Hess of Marathon City, his nieces Brooklyn Hess of Wausau and Olivia Hess of Marathon City, his mother-in-law, Lieselotte Nobelmann of Molln, Germany, his sister-in-law Ruth Nobelmann of Hamburg, Germany, Uncles Kenneth (Christine) Hess, The Villages, FL., Arden (Barbara) Baumgardt, Wausau, Lowell Baumgardt, Green Bay, and Aunts Margaret Hess, Kakabeka Falls, Ontario, CA., and Eileen (Stanley) Zunker, Rothschild, and many cousins and friends.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents Walter and Juliet Baumgardt and William J. and Margaret Hess, father-in-law Rolf Nobelmann, and Uncles Robert Hess and Jerome Baumgardt.

A celebration of life is planned for August 25 at the office he spent so much time computerizing a law firm, 605 Scott St. Visitation, along with food and music will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and a celebration program will take place at 4 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations to reliable charities helping Ukraine are suggested, as Kristof was very concerned for the Ukrainian people.

Brainard Funeral Home- Wausau Chapel is assisting the family.