Charles A. Astfalk

Charles A. Astfalk, of the Masonic Village, Elizabethtown, PA, died Sunday, November 22, 2020. He was born in the Pittsburgh area on December 12, 1920. He attended Pittsburgh Public Schools and graduated from Clark High School in Scott Township.

Chuck was assigned to the engineering section of the US Air Force for 3 years and was a WWII veteran. He attended the University of Pittsburgh and under the Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act, he earned an equivalent BS degree in Vocational Education. Chuck was a member of the Carpenter’s Union, continuing in the area of building construction, cabinet making, building of industrial exhibits and models.

He advanced into the sales and design field for trade show exhibits, which took him to Hershey, PA on business in 1961 and introduced him to the Milton Hershey School. In 1963 he began teaching at Milton Hershey and for the next 24 years, he taught in the school’s vocational department. He was instrumental, working with the school’s architect in the construction models for the proposed Founders Hall.

Chuck was a member of the Honorary Alumni Association of Milton Hershey. He was a long-time member of Derry Presbyterian Church in Hershey and served as an Elder. He was a 33rd Degree Mason AASR Valley of Harrisburg and a member of Abraham C Treichler Lodge #682 and the Zembo Shriners.

Chuck is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 67 years, Betty Mertz Astfalk and a nephew, Bill Breckenridge and his wife, Mary Jo, of Weddington, NC, and their children, Jeff Breckenridge and Kate Earp and their families, cousins, Sally Gaenzle, Lana Shepard, Bob, Gary and Susan Roos.

Memorials may be made to Derry Presbyterian Church, 248 E. Derry Road, Hershey, PA 17033 or Rennerdale United Presbyterian Church, 151 Noblestown Road, Carnegie, PA 15106.