George C. Hastings

1928 - 2017

George C. Hastings, husband of Laura M. Hastings, died January 27, 2017 after battling a brain tumor. He was born in Rutland, Vermont on March 30, 1928, son of Madeline "Pat" (Cassidy) Hastings and Edward W. Hastings. He lived most of his life in West Hartford. Hastings was a retired partner at the Hartford law firm Robinson & Cole, where he practiced from 1957 to 1995. He was a graduate of Loomis School, Yale College, and Yale Law School. While at Yale College, he was on the wrestling team and served as team captain. Upon graduation, he taught for two years at Loomis School and was the wrestling coach. He then served as a private in the U.S. Army Infantry for two years. While in law school, he was on the Yale Law Journal and was assistant coach of the Yale wrestling team. After law school, he was law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge John P. Anderson in New Haven. While practicing law, he served at various times as a member of the Wethersfield Zoning Board of Appeals; United States Commissioner; member and vice chairman West Hartford Board of Education; member West Hartford Democratic Town Committee; U.S. Department of Justice Selective Service Hearing Officer; member and vice chairman Connecticut Board of Pardons; and adjunct professor of procedure and equity, University of Connecticut Law School. Hastings at various times was a trustee of Loomis School; president of the Capital Area Foundation for Equal Justice (now Greater Hartford Legal Aid Foundation); director Statewide Legal Services; director and president of the Bedford Street Housing Corporation; member policy advisory committee Donaghue Medical Research Foundation; director and president Center for First Amendment Rights; advisory board the WALKS Foundation; director ACLU Connecticut chapter; and director and president of The Bridge Family Center where he was involved over 50 years. The Bridge named its shelter for boys in Wolcott, Connecticut, Hastings House, in his honor. Hastings was a member of The Country Club of Farmington, the University Club, the Old Guard, the Hartford Civitan Club, and the Appalachian Mountain Club. He traveled extensively, including three trips from Bayonne to Aruba as an 18-year-old ordinary seaman on an oil tanker. He enjoyed hiking, golf, poker, bridge, gin rummy, and duckpin bowling. He went to the horse races in fifteen countries around the globe. Besides his wife Laura, he is survived by his son John and daughter-in-law Francie of Portland, Maine, daughter Lucinda of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, daughter Juliet and son-in-law Dan London of Atlanta, Georgia, step-children John Pfarr and Maria Williams, grandsons Tyler and Michael , granddaughters Miranda and Catherine, step grandchildren Jackson, Reagan, and Kaitlyn, nephew Nicholas Hastings of Portland, Oregon, and former wife Ada Hastings of Lenox, Massachusetts. His sister Barbara (1931) and brothers John and Edward predeceased him. Memorial gifts may be made to the Greater Hartford Legal Aid Foundation, 999 Asylum Street, Hartford, CT 06105; The Bridge Family Center, Inc., 1022 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06107; or ACLU, Connecticut Chapter 7, 765 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. There will be a memorial gathering at the Farmington Country Club at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 11, followed by a reception.