Ken Hasselbrack was born in Malden MA in 1944 and raised in Melrose MA. Ken graduated from Melrose High School in 1962 and joined the Navy in 1963. He served a year at Guantanamo Bay, and in 1965 volunteered for the USS Bache a destroyer headed for Vietnam and a cruise around the world. He was proud and grateful that his service in Vietnam and his agent orange exposure there were recently recognized by our government as contributing to his health issues.

Coming back to the Melrose area in 1967 he went to work in the Charlestown Navy Yard. He also attended North Shore Community College majoring in Music Appreciation. During that time he also met his wife Roberta Devereaux and they were married in 1970. They moved to Amherst, NH, in 1977, and he started work in the Real Estate business at the Norwood Group in 1978. After the Norwood Group he started with the Hunneman Group in Boston as a commercial realtor.

During his time with the Hunneman Group, his beautiful daughter Kerry was born in 1983. She quickly changed his household into a busier and happier place filled with toys and a bit of chaos. When Kerry was two years old they purchased their first time share on Cape Cod. This also began many years of worldwide travel through time share exchanges to many parts of the US and to many European and Caribbean countries.

In 2000 when Kerry was a senior in high school she chose a senior project regarding mostly man-made deterioration of the coral reefs in the Caribbean and other warm climate locations. She began taking scuba diving lessons and wanted to go alone to far off places to research her project. Roberta and Ken (reluctantly) began taking lessons too so that she could research, but would not be there alone at age 17. The family went to Mexico in December of 2000, her senior year. During that trip they discovered that Ken was using considerably more air from his scuba tank than other divers, and his daughter Kerry had to rescue him with her air tank and bring him to the surface. They continued diving in Mexico, but were ultra careful of Ken’s air supply. Ken believed that Kerry’s love of travel originated with their family trips, and she continues to travel when necessary or possible for both her career at UNH and with her own family.

In 1996 Ken began his own embroidery business located in Lowell, MA, known as C&C Embroidery. He loved being an independent business owner. The C&C stood for Contract and Commercial or Cash and Carry depending on how creditworthy his customers were. He retired in 2011 and spent more time on his beloved guitars and music. Ken loved attending and playing in open mics in southern NH and some in MA, and made many lasting friendships along the way.

In 2012 Ken became the proud father-in-law of Matt Nolte, Kerry’s husband, and in 2016 the even prouder grandfather of Lyla Shea Nolte. Lyla’s middle name Shea was also the maiden name of Ken’s mother Dorothy (Dot). This name choice made Ken very happy.

Ken’s love of family of course included his brother Edward Hasselbrack from Melrose, MA, who passed in 2004, and Ed’s wife Dee and children Peter, Judy and Patrick and Judy’s two children Nathan and Riley. He especially appreciated their generosity and support during the difficult times of his life. Ken also loved and appreciated his sister Phyllis Allen and her husband Mark, who left us over the last several years, and their children Kendy, Mark and Nate. He also loved and enjoyed getting together and sharing stories with Roberta’s family which consisted of her four sisters, Elaine, Karen, Joan and Diane (the Devereaux girls), and of course his brothers-in-law and their children, Ken’s nieces and nephews.

Family members include his wife of 55 years Roberta of Amherst, his daughter Kerry, son-in-law Matt, and granddaughter Lyla Shea, all of Portsmouth, NH.

There are no calling hours, but a Celebration of Ken’s life is being planned for late May. Any donations in Ken’s memory can be made to SHARE Outreach, Inc., 1 Columbus Avenue, Milford, NH 03055. The arrangements are in the care of the Michaud Funeral Home, 32 Maple St., Wilton, NH. To view an online obituary or leave a condolence, please visit our web site at www.michaudfuneralhome.com.