Carl Benjamin Haftel

Carl Benjamin Haftel, 91, of Venice, FL and formerly of East Hampton, husband of the late Sandra (Schindlinger) Honig-Haftel, passed away on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at Portland Care & Rehab.

Carl left high school before graduation to serve in the United States Navy during the end of World War II.  After the war ended, he started a construction company called Monarch Builders and Developers.  He served as President of the company until its closing.  He took pride in building sturdy, long lasting homes in the greater Middletown area and enjoyed the creative problem solving that went along with the business.  He had a love for the outdoors and a hard day’s work.  It was very common to find him outside doing landscaping and upkeep on his home well into his late 80’s.

Carl also owned a gravel pit in Cromwell that’s now the TPC golf course.  Along with the Middletown and Cromwell area, he also lived several years in Kansas.  Carl was a member of Congregation Adath Israel Synagogue in Middletown.  In his free time, Carl liked to travel with Sandy to places like, Antarctica, Alaska, Hawaii and Budapest and loved going to Bar Harbor, Maine where he liked hiking up Cadillac Mountain with Mike. Along with the landscaping, Carl loved to tinker, always having many projects going and always trying to make everything better. He financed himself as an inventor.

Carl is survived by his son, Michael J. Haftel of San Francisco, CA; stepdaughter, Cathy LaBella and her husband Michael of Cobalt; two stepgrandchildren, Hannah and Coby LaBella; two brothers, Seymour Haftel and his wife Sylvia of Sarasota, FL and Arnold Haftel of Middletown; a sister, Joan Myers of Oakland, CA and many nieces and nephews.

Along with his wife and parents, Carl was predeceased by a sister, Mary Anne Haftel.

A graveside service will be held on Sunday, January 27 at 1:00 pm in Adath Israel Cemetery, 714 Pine Street, Middletown.  Please omit flowers; donations in Carl’s memory may be made to Congregation Adath Israel Chevra Kadisha Fund, P.O. Box 337, Middletown, CT 06457.  To share memories or send condolences to the family, please visit www.doolittlefuneralservice.com.

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