Obituary of Henry A Haffke

Henry A. “Mr. Gee Bee” Haffke, 90, died peacefully on October 12, 2017 at the Wesley Community in Saratoga Springs, NY. Henry was born in Springfield, MA, the son of Henry and Gladys (Jennison) Haffke. Henry graduated from Orange, MA high school and enlisted in the Navy during WW II where he was an instructor in naval aircraft ordnance equipment, and was  a qualified aircraft crewman and aerial gunner. After the Navy, most of his career was spent as a professional roller skater, coaching many skaters (including his children and sister Sylvia) to the state, regional, national, and world championship level. Then, he combined his love of model aviation as a designer with the Coverite corporation in Pennsylvania before moving with his wife, Lee, to purchase and manage a motel in Londonderry, Vermont. Lee and Henry then retired and moved to the Saratoga Springs, NY area.

Survivors include his children Karen Hart, Gary and Raymond Haffke, and his sister Sylvia Haffke. Henry was predeceased by his wife Lorraine “Lee” (Edgerly), of 57 years, a son Richard K. Haffke, and brothers Harry-Dana, Raymond (Rocky), and Gerald (Jake). In addition to roller skating, Henry was an avid water skier, snow skier, and participated in several other sports. But his real passion was aircraft. In his early years, his father would take him down to the Springfield airport to watch the planes taking off and landing as “cheap entertainment”. In his teens, he started building model airplanes and obtained his pilot’s license at 16. Although he built and flew many types of planes, his real love was designing, building, and flying competitive scale models, including the ‘Golden Era’ Gee Bees that he had watched flying at the Springfield airport. Henry’s model airplane designs were regularly published in national and international model aviation publications. He performed extensive research on the Gee Bee planes and in 1989 wrote and published a book “Gee Bee, the Real Story of the Granville Brothers and their Marvelous Airplanes”. More recently, he was honored for his life’s work by the National Aeronautic Association and inducted into the Academy of Model Aeronautics’ Hall of Fame. Most importantly, all of the above took a backseat to his devotion and dedication to his family including trips to roller skating competitions, Christmas skiing vacations, and providing all of the love and support he could, to his family.

Relatives and friends are invited to gather at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 18 at the May Funeral Home, 85 Nichols St., Norwood, MA, followed by a celebration of his life with remembrance sharing at 12:30 p.m. Interment will follow in the Knollwood Memorial Park in Canton, MA, with full military honors.