Peter Ney, a former judge on the Colorado Court of Appeals who escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransports, died in his sleep on July 28, 2021. The family said his experiences in the war would shape the rest of his long, varied, and what he described as a “lucky life.”
A private celebration will be held at a later date. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
Mr. Ney was born Nov. 11, 1931, in Nuremberg. Two nights before his 7th birthday, on Kristallnacht, the family awakened to the sounds of breaking glass and shouting.
Two months later, his parents found a place for him on a Kindertransport to England. They joined him six months later and secured papers that enabled the family to go to the US in 1940.
In Philadelphia, Mr. Ney lost his accent and met Betty Kaplan. They married in 1953.
He earned a degree in industrial design at the Philadelphia School of Design before being drafted into the US Army.
Mr. Ney first designed radios at Philco until Russia’s launch of Sputnik sparked his interest in the space program. In 1959, he joined Martin Marietta and designed the interior of spaceships for human use.
He transferred to the Denver office in 1960.
Mr. Ney began taking law classes at night at DU. In 1966, he became an attorney in solo practice for 22 years.
Motivated by his own experiences as a refugee, he took on pro bono cases for the American Civil Liberties Union.
In 1988, Mr. Ney became a judge on the Colorado Court of Appeals.
He retired in 2003 at age 72, but continued serving as a senior judge and law professor at Arapahoe Community College. He also wrote his memoir, Getting Here.
Mr. Ney, who loved the arts, music, theater and travel, was passionate about photography.
Peter Ney is survived by Betty Ney, his wife of 68 years; children Linda (Peter Saeta), Diane (Dan Visser) and Richard (Pam Muncaster); and grandchildren Brennan (Jordanna), Ethan and Ryan Saeta, Kyle and Kendell Visser, and Hannah, Abby (Nate Hawley) and Thomas Ney.
Donations may be made to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Southern Poverty Law Center or Special Olympics of Colorado.
Copyright © 2021 by the Intermountain Jewish News
