"We were close to a window, and my mother took my brother and threw him out. She grabbed me and fell back and then threw me out," Doehner told The Associated Press in a 2017 interview. "She tried to get my sister, but she was too heavy, and my mother decided to get out by the time the zeppelin was nearly on the ground."

According to his obituary, Doehner was born in Darmstadt, Germany, but spent his childhood in Mexico City. He married his wife, Elin, in July 1967. He moved to the United States in 1984 and worked for General Electric as an engineer, the obituary said.

He retired in 1999 from the New England Electric System.