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Hans Apelles

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R

rich177

Member
May 10, 2015
362
151
PA, United States
It is with deep regret that I report that on November 24 Hans Apelles left the Field Target lanes. If Rodney Boyce was the first gentleman of Field Target then Hans was certainly at least, the second! I first met Hans when he showed up at one of our FT matches at Delran Junior Marksman Club in the early 1990s. Hans and his son Raymond called themselves the "A Team" and wore white coveralls so stating. I thought they looked goofy at first but found that they had previously had issues with tick bites. Not so goofy after all! They continued to make the lengthly trip to our matches and sometimes Hans's wife Martha and daughter Rosalie and son-in-law Bob would come with them. Hans loved FT so much that he and Raymond started running their own matches in upstate New York and continued until Hans could no longer do it physically. Hans and Raymond were also responsible for getting Crosman to run the Crosman All-American Field Target Championship which was a great event for many years. They can also take a lot of credit for getting Crosman into PCP airguns. Several of their airguns in current production have strong roots based on their input and expertise.
Hans was ALWAYS a gentleman and great fun to shoot with. He absolutely loved Field Target. It was a great privilege to know him.
Respectfully submitted,
Richard Bassett

PS: For Hans' official obituary google Clark funeral home, Katonah, NY.
 
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Hans was someone I always looked forward to seeing when I travelled to matches in the US. There are not many people like him. He was a great shooter, a talented machinist, very innovative and the humblest, nicest man you could meet. Field target has definitely suffered a great loss.

My condolences to you, Ray and to all your family. You certainly had a great example of a human to aspire to be like. Rest in peace my friend.

Tim
 
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It was a privilege for my wife Pat and I to meet Hans and Ray Apelles 14 plus years ago in April 2008 at my very first field target match in Binghamton, NY. They were there to meet up with Ed Schultz of Crosman who brought along a couple prototype Benjamin Discoverys they were working on together. It was a very unforgettable and enjoyable day!

Hans was a wealth of knowledge and a joy to spend time. Pretty much every match we were at, we’d compare scores at the end to see who beat who. The final outcome??, who knows, it was all just a fun thing we did.

He was always willing to help out and share his knowledge with anyone and everyone. As time slowed him down and he was unable to compete, he’d still try and get out to the matches to observe and chat with the competitors. To this day, people still ask and talk about him.

Hans, you will be missed on the lanes by us and all that you came in contact with. It is an honor to be able to call you our friend!

Greg and Pat

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Hate to hear that.

I never met him or his crew, but heard some reminiscing by some of the old school guys I got to shoot with. They all seemed to hold Hans in high record and had some good stories of fun times they shared. I had heard the white jumpsuit story at a match not long ago!

Always sad to see the ones go that brought us the things we like to enjoy, and might not have without them.

Sorry to hear of his passing.
 
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