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<i>John Daniel Hackenberg, </i><font size="2">a proud Pennsylvanian, was born on Feb 4, 1956, in Selinsgrove, PA. He was the son of the late Kenneth and Nel (Matter) Hackenberg and stepson of the late Anne Hackenberg. He met his partner for life, Barb Celona, while at West Point and was married June 10th immediately following graduation. After attending the Artillery Officer’s basic course, Barb and John were posted to Nuremberg, Germany, with the 1/94 FA and then completed their five years of active service at Fort Sill, OK. He chose to leverage his interest and experience in weapons systems and transitioned to civilian defense contracting employment by first working for Singer-Kearfott in the program office while concurrently serving for five years in the Army Reserve. He then transitioned to BMY in York, PA, returning to his Field Artillery roots and served in several capacities for 24 years until his death.</font></p>
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<font size="2">All throughout his civilian career he enjoyed the camaraderie of classmates and graduates he met at work. At Singer-Kearfott he carpooled daily with classmate Chris Grech. They had not known each other at West Point or in the Army, but became fast friends. Chris remembers that John had a wide range of interests and made everyone he interacted with feel as if what they were saying was important to him. John got Chris interested in options trading, and both initially made out very well before they actually understood what they were doing. Unfortunately, the law of averages prevailed and reality can be an unforgiving teacher. As a result both learned that good advice comes from experience and great advice comes from bad experience. Chris will always remember John as someone who never took himself too seriously but also as a sounding board for wise counsel. He spent many evenings eating dinner at the Hackenberg residence before they relocated to York, PA.</font></p>
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<font size="2">Jim Nichols, another classmate, was the Field Artillery branch representative at the Engineer School when the Army rolled out the first M109A6 self-propelled Howitzer, (known as the Paladin), at a ceremony at the BMY plant in York, PA. He remembers John wearing an embroidered Paladin Team jacket and feeling proud to have been very much involved in this project, bring ing a modern weapons system with on-board fire control to the field.</font></p>
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<font size="2">John and Barb raised two wonderful sons, Chris and Keith. Chris attended Valley Forge from 1995-99 and graduated as the class valedictorian. Keith attended Valley Forge from 1997-2001 and managed to graduate in his junior year. The Adjutant at Valley Forge was another classmate, Ken Seitz. Ken remembers John as a very devoted family man. John and Barb made the nearly 180-mile roundtrip trip from York, PA to Wayne, PA, several times a month to spend time with their sons on weekends. It was very evident that John and Barb had instilled in their sons the same values of "Duty, Honor Country" that John had learned at West Point. Ken characterized John in just a few words, we might say that he was a very dedicated individual that placed the well-being of others before his own. He epitomized the core virtue of selflessness.</font></p>
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<font size="2">Chris served in Iraq, earned a Bronze Star and is now living with his wife, Chandra, and daughter, Natalie, in New Hampshire. Keith graduated from American University Law School and is now practicing in Orlando, FL.</font></p>
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<font size="2">John loved to travel with his family. They traveled many of the 50 states, and Barb and John took a wonderful 12-night Mediterranean cruise. For hobbies, John loved to play golf and tennis. Prior to John</font><font face="AGaramond" size="2"><font face="AGaramond" size="2">’</font></font><font size="2">s death, he and Barb built his dream log home. He only got to live in it for 18 months, but at least after providing for the dreams of Barb and the boys, John got to enjoy his dream home for a short while. John was a wonderful husband, father, and a loyal friend. Unfortunately, a massive heart attack took his life far too soon.</font></p>