John Steensma, 82; Amputee Was Expert in Prosthetic Devices

John Steensma, 82, who had used two prosthetic arms since age 18 and helped found a rehabilitation center in South Korea, died Monday of natural causes in Holland, Mich.

Steensma became an expert in prosthetics and pioneered their use in his native Michigan and in South Korea after losing his own arms when he was badly shocked while trying to free a homemade parachute from a power line.

Although he had planned to go into the seminary, the accident refocused his career.

He worked from 1945 to 1957 as director of Michigan rehabilitation for handicapped children. Moving to Seoul, he began working with amputees at a small clinic that later grew into a seven-story rehabilitation complex attached to a university medical complex.