Stanley R. Hastings

A Marblehead Son Returns Home Stanley Robert Hastings, died on August 30, 2012 in Estero, FL, just two months short of his 94th birthday. He was predeceased by his wife of 70 years, Elaine (Mansfield) Hastings, who passed away on June 12 of this year. Stan was born by the wharf at 7 Glover Street, Marblehead on October 3, 1918, the eldest of three children raised by Carrie May (Snow) and Charles Melvin Hastings. Many long remembered his father Charlie, who retired from the Marblehead Fire Department and drove the Pumper Truck out of Central Fire Station. Stan was a graduate of the Story Grammar School, Class of 1932, and Marblehead High School, Class of 1936. He played football for Coach Charlie McGinnis in the 1934-35 season, when they defeated the New York City Champs 29-0. His teammates included Wells, Phelan, Hazel, Messenger, Shube, Osgood, Hawks, Ingals, Lennox, Remick, and Maddie Putnam, all well-known Marblehead names. In the 1935-36 season they traveled to Jacksonville, FL to play the Jacksonville All-Stars, a team of 27 players selected from three area high schools. Marblehead sent only 11 players who played the entire game to a 13-13 tie despite being outweighed by 20 pounds per player. Stan was chosen an All-Star tackle that season. He also starred in Marblehead High School baseball and basketball. He played baseball as well for the Ramblers, a local team of kids from the Jersey Street area. His sons recall being shown just how far out of the ballpark some of his homerun balls had sailed. In an epic game to see who was best in Marblehead, the Ramblers played the famous "Headers" to a tie at Seaside Park. His future wife Elaine was one of the cheerleaders for the Ramblers. On weekends in the winter, Stan was part of that first generation of enthusiastic downhill skiers who rode the snow train north to Conway, NH. He was there on the headwall of Tuckerman Ravine in the third and final American Inferno of 1939, ducking frantically out of the way as Toni Matt famously shot over the lip in his legendary schuss down Mt. Washington. Stan was proud to be the first of his family to attend college. Working part-time and still playing football and basketball, he earned his B.S. in Chemistry at Northeastern University in 1941. A few months later his father tracked him down during one of his Pinkham Notch outings to tell him he had been hired by pharmaceutical giant Merck in Rahway, NJ, a company to which he committed the next 40 years of his life. He married Elaine in 1942, commuted to night-school at New York University, earned his M.B.A., and rapidly rose to upper echelons in the managerial hierarchy of Merck. In 1957 he purchased an 18th-century farmhouse in Bucks County, PA, and taught himself to be a part-time farmer, builder, horseback rider, and jack-of-all-trades while raising a family and contributing to the development and quality control of new products at Merck. He retired in 1981 and began living the dream of many a New Englander, spending summers in Waterville Valley, NH and winters in Ft. Myers Beach, FL. An avid hiker since his Eagle Scout days, he and his wife ventured out on many a trail in the White Mountains as well as the Swiss and Austrian Alps. Stan and Elaine traveled extensively before and during retirement, and he remained an active boater, fisherman, and golfer well into his 80's. He leaves two sons, Professor Stanley Robert Hastings, Jr., and wife Dagmar (Tuzilova) Hastings of Wallisellen, Switzerland, and Professor Charles M. Hastings and wife Rebecca (Smith) Hastings of Farwell, MI; also one grandchild, Robert Alex Hastings, wife Jitka (Simsova) Hastings, and great grandchild Grace Elaine Hastings, of Dietlikon, Switzerland; and many Snow and Christianson relatives in Marblehead and beyond. Stan was predeceased by younger brother Melvin Hastings, whose children, Charles and Libby and their families live in MD and VA, and by younger sister Muriel Hall, whose children, Judy and Charles live in FL. A Memorial Service and Graveside Burial were held at the Hastings lot of Waterside Cemetery on September 4, 2012. Arrangements were entrusted to the Eustis-Cornell Funeral Home, 142 Elm St. Marblehead. Please visit the online guestbook for Stanley at www.eustisandcornellfuneralhome.com