HARTWICK – Hal P. Carius, Jr., 70, of Persons Road in Hartwick, died unexpectedly at his home Saturday afternoon, December 21, 2024.
Hal (never Harold) was born on April 20th, 1954 in Hackensack, NJ, the son of Harold Paul Carius and Anna (Zeman) Carius. Much more the son of his mother than his father, Hal retained her fire and spirit throughout his life.
He was a force of nature, a hurricane that never blew out. Hal seemed eternal. His family had always guessed that, if he did go (and it never seemed like it was in his nature to die), it would be in some spectacularly bizarre fashion. He might have been hit by lightning and vaporized. Or crushed by a falling tree in the middle of a field. Or felled by some rare disease that you could only contract on the third Sunday of the 10th month every 15 years under a full moon while wearing the wrong color hat. You know, normal things. Pedestrian things. Things that could have happened to anyone.
Over the course of his life, Hal learned many things about many things. He was as good an engineer, plumber, electrician, mechanic, cook, baker, driver, speaker, artist, and father as anyone could have ever hoped to be. His love of animals, especially dogs, knew no bounds, and he was frequently heard to wish vengeance and suffering on anyone who might harm any innocent creature.
Hal (again, never Harold) is survived by Paula, his loving wife of 48 years, his son Will, and Chris, his younger brother. The Carius brothers were close for most of their lives and were frequently mistaken for twins, despite their three-year age difference.
A visitation will be held at a later date at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Hartwick EMS Squad, or to All 4 Paws Animal Rescue in Malvern, PA. Please tell them that Hal sent you. He would have liked that.
If you would like to send condolences to the family, send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family. If you would like to send flowers in memory of the deceased, contact Mohican Flowers at (607) 547-8822, or A Rose is a Rose at (607) 264-3100.
