He earned a master's degree in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1950. He was elected to Phi Kappa Phi, a national honor society.
His military service with the Army Air Corps stretched from 1941 to 1945 and included hitches in New Guinea, the Dutch East Indies, and the Philippines.
He served with the 432d Fighter Squadron of the 475th Fighter Group, known as "Satan's Angels." He was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant.
Mr. Hastings had an artistic side; he created many "wonderful layouts" for his model-railroad cars, his family said.
"They were in the basement all year round. As a matter of fact, our cousins remember the tunnels and mountains he would sculpt out," said his daughter, Kathleen Ann D'Amico.
He carved reproductions of colonial furniture. In the late 1980s, he received an award for a reproduction of a stool that he carved, with a needlepoint cover created by his second wife.
Among his other creations were the flowered wood panels for a copy of the "Resolute" desk in the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. The reproduction was on display in Yardley before it went to the library.
"What he wanted to do was retire and do woodwork, but the economy would not allow it," his daughter said.
Mr. Hastings outlived two wives, Anna Keser Hastings, from whom he was divorced, and Doris Bachman Hastings, who died in June 2011.
Surviving, in addition to his daughter, are a son, Francis Michael; five grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. Services on Sunday, Feb. 3, are private.
Contact Bonnie L. Cook at 215-854-2611 or bcook@phillynews.com.
