IN MEMORIAM: Walter Haldenwang, Jr., 81;

Native Of Germany, DEC Forestry Technician

HARTWICK – Walter George Haldenwang, Jr., a long-time resident of Hartwick, passed away Wednesday, March 3, 2021, at Riverside Adult Foster Home in La Grande, Ore. He was 81.

Born Dec. 12, 1939, in Jersey City, N.J., he was the son of Walter George Haldenwang and Agnes Mayer Haldenwang, both natives of Ofterdingen, Germany.

After living in Ridgefield, N.J. for the first nine years of his life, Walter and his parents moved to Hartwick in 1948. He was employed on his parent’s poultry farm while attending Hartwick High School, until it closed in 1957.

He then attended Cooperstown High School, graduating in 1958, and then attended the State University of New York Agricultural & Technical Institute at Morrisville, graduating in 1960 with an Associate’s Degree in Forestry.

From 1960 to 1965, Walter was employed by John Deere Co. in Syracuse until he was drafted into the Army in January 1965. He served most of his tour of duty at the Echterdingen Army Air Field near Stuttgart, Germany, until being Honorably Discharged in January 1967.

Upon returning stateside, Walter became employed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation in Stamford, and rose through the ranks to become the Senior Forestry Technician. For health reasons he retired from this position in 1983.

He returned home to Hartwick, yet continued to maintain an active interest in forestry affairs and the environment. He was also an active member of The Schuyler Lake Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and was a part of the North La Grande Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

He is survived by several aunts, uncles and cousins in New York State, N.J. and Germany, including his two cousins, Althea Thayer of Hawthorne, N.J. and Güter Steinhilber of Ofterdingen, Germany. He is further survived by his devoted caretaker, Patricia I. Corcoran and her family, with whom he made his home for the past ten years in La Grande, Oregon.

Walter will be buried later this Spring in Hartwick Cemetery.

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.