Norman C. Hausknecht, 87, passed away August 20, 2021 in Merritt Island, Florida. He was born in 1934 and raised in Buffalo, New York. He was preceded in death by his parents Norman C. Hausknecht, Josephine Carnevale, step-father Anthony Carnevale, and sister Dolores Holm – all from the Buffalo, New York area.

Norm was married to Norma Elaine (Dieterick) Hausknecht in 1953, until her death in 1999 in Maitland, Florida. He is survived by sons Brian Hausknecht (Shery) of Corpus Christi, Texas and Douglas Hausknecht (Carol) of Akron, Ohio and daughters Cheryl Benefield (Roger) of Grand Canyon, Arizona and Pamela Hausknecht of Port Richey, Florida.

From their children, Norm is survived by 2 grandchildren in Akron Ohio, Champagne Brown and Jordan Rivota-Hausknecht, and a step-grandchild, Dustin Benefield of Val Rico, Florida. Norm is also survived by his 8 great grand/step-grandchildren.

In 2001, he married Diane (Koncal) Hausknecht, and they moved to Merritt Island, Florida. From this marriage, he became stepfather to Suzanne (Koncal) Kube of Merritt Island, Florida, and grandpa to her children – Ashley, Isabella, and Wyatt Kube. He also became the stepfather to Denise Koncal of Ocala, Florida, and grandpa to Shelby Koncal.

He was a US Navy radioman on a battleship in the 1950’s, thankfully during peacetime. He became a successful local and district salesman for various retail and wholesale companies, both in Maryland and in Florida. In Jacksonville, Florida, he and Elaine opened and ran a local bakery, where he specialized in decorating cakes. Finally, he was able to turn his long-time hobby of creating and hand-carving leather goods, such as purses, belts, wallets, and saddles into his professional business. He created and sold his art, while managing various leather craft stores in the Orlando, Florida area, including one at the Lake Buena Vista resort at Walt Disney World.

But his true legacy is the love he showed to his family and friends. Funny, warm, charming, sarcastic, good dancer, loving, generous, sweet, are just a few of the words that have been used to describe him. When you were around him, you couldn’t help but laugh at his dry sense of humor. He loved being around his friends and family, and was known to stay up late into the night telling story after story after story. And – he just loved his life.

As a life-long animal lover, Norm was captivated by every National Geographic special ever produced. So, in lieu of flowers, our family asks that donations be sent to the Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge in Orlando, Florida.