Dr. Chaz M. Holder, 55; Created New Way to Make Prosthetics

Dr. Chaz M. Holder, 55, a triple amputee who invented a new way of making prosthetic limbs, died of a heart attack July 4 at his home in Fayetteville, N.C.

Holder devised lightweight, more comfortable prosthetic limbs that can be fitted in about 15 minutes. He sold the prosthetic arms and legs, for which he developed a technology that requires no socket to fit the remaining part of an amputated limb, through his company, CZBioMed Enterprises. He distributed the devices free to amputees in Third World countries.

Last year, Holder and his invention received one of five $50,000 awards presented by the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose in recognition of new technologies that benefit humanity.

Just before his death, Holder had completed the first phase of a contract with the Army to provide prosthetic devices to be used for clearing minefields. The device provides up to two feet of additional distance from a mine.

Holder lost his left arm below the elbow in an industrial accident in the late 1970s and about eight years ago began to incrementally lose his legs during successive operations. Doctors attributed the deterioration of his legs to a near-fatal race-car accident in 1980 and exposure to chemicals during his Army service in the Vietnam War, according to Holder’s business partner, Ruth Clark.

Born in Kalamazoo, Mich., Holder majored in art and English at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and earned a doctorate in engineering in fine arts from Drake University in Des Moines. He graduated from Phnom Penh Wat Medical College in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, although he was never licensed as a doctor in the United States.