Karl Edward Hallecks, III

In a plot twist worthy of his favorite B movies, Karl Edward Hallecks III has left us to adventure in the worlds beyond ours. Karl exited this mortal game on June 25, 2024, after a brief battle with cancer, leaving behind a legacy of laughter, love, and legendary dad jokes.

Karl spawned into New York City, NY, the oldest child of Karl E. Hallecks II and Frances Mussomelli. His family moved to New Milford in 1959. He began working at Kimberly Clark as a machine operator in 1968, where he remained until his retirement in 2007. He found his partner in life early on, meeting Barbara Louise Gunn in 1971 and convincing her to marry him 6 months later. They began their family in 1973 with their son, Mark Edward, who unfortunately passed at birth. They later welcomed two daughters, Beth Anne and Kristen Elizabeth and from there set off on their journey to play the Game of Life.

He looked at life as an adventure, and with his wife and children as willing sidekicks, he would take to the roads on “hobbit adventures” where we would drive “over the river and through the woods, then hop, skip, and jump, take a right turn and drive in reverse for 8 miles” before stopping and exploring wherever it was we landed.

With a twinkle in his blue eyes and a mischievous grin, Karl could be forgiven the pranks that he was fond of dreaming up and implementing. God forbid you were the first one to fall asleep after eating a full meal at the holidays, or you could be liable to have something silly written across your forehead. When he wasn’t using his creativity to stir up trouble and laughter, he was using it to find creative solutions to problems already solved. The Hallecks home at 309 Wellsville is full of Karl’s inventions, from the pool noodle headrests, the Bleach Bottle protector of the toilet paper (created to stop a dog from unraveling toilet paper), and sock put-er on-ers (made when his bad knees didn’t allow him to bend over).

Karl was a lover of words, whether he was reading the story or telling it, and the more fantastic it was, the better. He had a love of fantasy and science fiction which he passed on to both his children. It wasn’t uncommon to find a witticism worthy of Mark Twain written down, whether it be of laundry days or dead deer.  A lifelong Trekkie, Karl was a nerd before it was cool to be one, but he didn’t care. He loved the works of Kipling and Tolkein, introduced his children to Dungeon & Dragons when they were barely old enough to roll the dice, collected comic books for most of his life, until the collection took up more space than Barbara’s wardrobe. In later years, Karl shifted from a fondness for traditional tabletop games to those available to him on the internet. He mastered and led his way through games like Wizards 101, earning the title of coolest Popop from his grandchildren, and found his final love in the world of the Elder Scrolls:Skyrim. Karl is famous among his grandson’s friends, having played it through more times than we could count.

At his core, Karl was deeply invested in his family. He was very proud of his wife, children, and grandchildren, and extended that love to the many friends that came to call him their honorary “Dad” and “Poppa”. He often stated that his favorite job was as grandfather. He found renewed friendships with his legions of cousins, especially in the past few months. He could often be found sitting as his computer, battling a dragon, while texting up a storm with the multitude of cousins that he was proud to call his family.

Karl is survived by his wife of 52 years, Barbara; his daughters Beth Hink and Kristen Hallecks; and his grandchildren, Mark Hink (Lizz), and Elizabeth Smith. He is also survived by his younger sister, Donna Hallecks, and his stepsisters Emma Coons, Nancy Ross-Terry, Jo-Anne Reyes, and Bobbie-Jo Andrade. He also acted as a father figure to his nieces and nephews: Jennifer Gunn-Calhoun, Jeffrey Neubauer, Jennifer Lesiak, and Jason Gunn and enjoyed the company of the great-nieces and great-nephews that are part of a large extended family.

A celebration of Karl’s life will be held on Monday, July 1st at Volo Restaurant (formerly known as 121 Club) at 7 Juliano Dr., in Oxford (Oxford airport) from 12:30 – 4pm. As Karl was not one to stand on ceremony, the family is asking that all guests come ready to laugh with them, and wear either a Hawaiian shirt or an irreverent t-shirt that would have made Karl chuckle.

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