Glen T. Hastings Jr.

HASTINGS, Glen T. Jr., a former president of the Home Builders Association of Virginia, died at his home in Colonial Heights on Monday, December 10. Mr. Hastings had just celebrated his 84th birthday with his family. He was one of three children born to Glen T. Hastings Sr. and Effie Wingate Hastings in Delmar, Del. His sisters, Paula Martz of Petersburg and Winifred Parker of Salisbury, Md. predeceased him. He loved his family, his country, his church, and his fun, especially if it involved fishing and the Chesapeake Bay. Mr. Hastings was devoted to his wife of 58 years, Marie Hill Hastings, who survives him. He also is survived by four daughters, Valerie Gregory and her husband, Arlen, of Chesterfield, Lynne Browne and her husband, the Rev. Paul Browne, of Williamsport, Pa., Christine Hastings of Roanoke, and Claire Thomas and her husband, Bryant, of Springfield; and six grandchildren, Cory Barrett and his wife, Heather, of Richmond, Carrie Barrett and her husband, Christopher Lee, of Chicago, Ill., Havilah Browne of Williamsport, Pa., and Glen, Sam and Charlie Thomas, all of Springfield. He was a proud member of the Greatest Generation, serving in the U.S. Army in five campaigns in the European Theater of World War II. Mr. Hastings was a leading home builder in the Tri-Cities area for more than 35 years. He served as president of the Home Builders Association of Virginia in 1966, acted as chairman of its Virginia legislative committee for three consecutive years, and was among the first ten builders inducted into the Home Builders Association of Virginia Hall of Fame in 2002. He became a senior life director of the National Association of Home Builders in 1991. He was a charter member of the Home Builders Association of Southside Virginia, served as its president in 1961, and joined its Hall of Fame in 2002. He is the all-time leader in the Southside association's "Spike Club" for sponsoring new members. His father was a home builder in Salisbury, Md. Mr. Hastings came to the Petersburg area in 1950 to work for R.G. Martz Construction Co., which was owned by his brother-in-law, and later formed his own company. Mr. Hastings was a member of the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Petersburg for 55 years, serving as a trustee and member of the church council for many years. He served on the Hospital Authority for Southside Regional Medical Center from 1968 to 1992. He was a charter member of the former Petersburg Civitan Club, and was first president of the club's Southside Sheltered Workshop for the mentally retarded, established in 1962 and still operating. He was a past president of the Colonial Heights Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Kiwanis Club in Petersburg. The family will receive visitors at the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, 1769 S. Sycamore St. in Petersburg on Friday beginning at 11 a.m. A funeral service will follow at noon in the church. Contributions may be made in lieu of flowers to the memorial fund at the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, Hospice of Virginia, or the Parkinson's Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Center at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond.