Donald D. Hastert

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Hastert, Donald D. age 85, of Minnetonka, passed away on March 11, 2018. Preceded in death by parents, John and Mary Hastert; siblings, Harry, Charles, Margaret, James. He will be deeply missed by his wife of 65 years, Annette; son, David (Lynn); many relatives and good friends. Don was born Palm Sunday on the family farm in Farwell, Nebraska. He was later raised on the family farm outside Alton, IA and attended St Mary's Academy. He graduated high school in 1949 and in 1950 started at Iowa State, majoring in electrical engineering. In 1953 he married Annette Verschoor. That Oct he was drafted into the army and then served in Chicago in the anti aircraft artillery tasked with maintaining the radar systems. In Feb 1955, son David was born and in Sept he returned to Iowa State for the last two years of his degree. After graduation in 1957, the family spent 9 years in State College, PA. A desire to be closer to the family brought them back to Minnesota in 1966. In 1970 he began a career with Control Data. Minnesota brought out the family's creative side and when son David left for college in 1973, Annette started up selling hand crafted products at craft shows. Don also started making wood products with a special interest in reproducing antique clocks. The Minneapolis Tribune did a feature in the Home/Garden section on Don in the Sunday Jan 6th, 1980 edition. In 1978 they were selected to show at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival where he spent 20 years as its resident Gnome. Don was also an avid gardener. They both retired from doing festivals in 1998 and did some traveling and continued woodworking. He was also an avid reader with a special interest in Sci-fi and history. Don was the keeper of the family history and published the family genealogy. Memorial Gathering and Celebration of 65 yrs of marriage at The Marsh 2 pm Sat, April 14th, 1500 Minnetonka Blvd, Minnetonka, MN 952-935-2202.

Published on March 18, 2018