Karl Hastedt Jr.

Karl Gustav Hastedt, Jr. age 76 of Miami Township, passed away on Monday, February 1, 2021 at his home. He was born on November 30, 1944 in Trenton, New Jersey to the late Karl and Kathryn Hastedt. In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his sister Helen Hastedt Degler.

He is survived by his two nieces, Kitty (Sam Chapman) Degler of Overland Park, Kansas and Karen Degler Dodridge of Lexington, Kentucky and nephew Robert (Connie) Degler of Delray Beach, Florida. He is also survived by six great nieces and nephews, and two fabulous cats, Gus and Annie.

Karl was named after his father and grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. His sister, Helen, older by twelve years, related how Karl immediately became the center of attention for the family after his birth. He attended the Pennington School class of 1963, Trenton Junior College class of 1965, and the University of Georgia, graduating in 1967. Later, while in Texas, he started a Masters in Management at the University of Dallas. At a Pennington Class reunion he once expressed how he "loved Pennington for his education."

Karl was drafted in February 1968, joined the Army, and served until being honorably discharged in 1970. During that time he was awarded the National Defense Service medal, the Vietnam Service medal, the Vietnam Campaign medal, two Overseas Service Bars, and, surprising to all who later knew him, he earned a Good Conduct medal. Initially in Vietnam he worked in the Public Information office preparing a daily news feed, and later in Military Intelligence. His parents collected the letters he sent home from Vietnam, and they make interesting reading. A postcard he mailed described the great steak he had for dinner while flying from Philadelphia to San Francisco -- a flight that cost him $30 when he upgraded from flying military standby. The letters were not all light-hearted. One describes the terror of a night rocket attack on the base where he was stationed.

Karl worked selling commercial HVAC equipment in the Fort Worth, Texas area, moving to Dayton in 1986. As a sales and marketing professional in Texas and Ohio he won wholesale distributor sales awards, account development awards, and dramatically increased sales with an existing dealer base while expanding his company's market penetration.

During his time in Dayton Karl has made many friends. He served as President of the board of the Fox Hill Condominium Association for a period of time. In recent years he participated in a Saturday afternoon wine tasting group at Dorothy Lane Market. Throughout his life he was an avid photographer and reader - the walls of his residence were lined with photographs of family and places he had visited and books. Karl limited his travels after he fell under the spell of Annie and Gus, two cats from whom he couldn't stand to be away. It is somewhat surprising he had so few photographs of them.

Memorial Service with Military Honors will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, March 27, 2021 at Newcomer Funeral Home-Kettering Chapel located at 3940 Kettering Boulevard Kettering, Ohio 4539. Family will receive friends from 10:00 am until the time of the service.

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