Gustav Eric Hartzendorf, Jr. passed January 8, 2025 in Corpus Christi, Texas. He was born November 25, 1946, in Sinton, Texas to Gustav Erich Hartzendorf (“Eric”) and Martha Hulda Ruth Hartzendorf née Schneider (“Ruth”), completing the family as he joined older sister, Evelyn Ruth. He assisted in operating his father’s cotton gin as a youth and was a lifelong member of Grace Lutheran Church.

After graduating from Sinton High School in 1965, he attended Texas Tech University, earning his Bachelor of Science in Animal Business in 1970. He joined several fraternities, and in his last year there, he started running around with a bunch of pre-med majors, which led him to think that going to medical school “sounded fun.” Eric often retold stories from his college years about mischief with his roommate, Joey Newsom.

Attributing his 99% score in general knowledge on the MCAT to his admission to medical school, he attended University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas from the fall of 1970 thru the spring of 1973. After the death of his father at home on December 29, 1972, and a bout of mononucleosis early in 1973, he left school, and married his bride, Barbara Lynn Goswick, on June 29, 1974, in Odessa, Texas.

The couple moved to Sinton and raised four children together: Marc Eric, Beverly Nell, Elizabeth Grace and Jonathan Alan. Eric had a special hand in Elizabeth’s birth, when Dr. Simpson informed him, he wouldn’t be at the hospital in time to deliver the baby. Eric retold the story of catching a quiet and alert Elizabeth just in time for the doctor to walk into the room and drop her on the pulled-out table leaf.

Very shortly after the death of his mother in Sinton on March 28, 1977, Eric established the Eric Hartzendorf Gin Company and began direct management as owner-operator of the cotton gin. He devoted his life to his work - the cotton gin, sharecropping farms, land leveling, and ranching. Eric built an A-frame seed barn to sell cotton seed throughout the year, which is uncommon for gins in the area. He’d work six days a week during the off-season and around the clock during the ginning season, but if asked when he’s going to retire, he’d quip, “How can I retire? I’ve never worked a day in my life.”

In January 1996, Eric and Barbara divorced and shortly after, Eric met Cheryl Denise Bockholt (née Conner). They married October 19, 1996, at Grace Lutheran Church in Sinton and welcomed their daughter Hayley Ann in 2000. Even though they divorced in 2005, Eric and Cheryl remained good friends until Cheryl’s death on January 10, 2023.

Throughout his life, Eric had deep, abiding faith, quietly practiced charity and frugality. A regular reader of the Wall Street Journal, he kept decades of issues of the newspaper with plans to read them again after he “retired.” He enjoyed good stories, keeping up with the news, politics, ball room dancing, and music, and had a wry sense of humor.

Eric is preceded in death by his paternal grandfather: Gustav Alfred Hartzendorf; paternal grandmother: Marie Martha Matthes; maternal grandfather: Max John Schneider; maternal grandmother: Hulda Helene Zoch; his parents; numerous aunts and uncles; and his brother-in-law: Glenn Wesley Dittmar. Eric is survived by his sister: Evelyn Ruth Dittmar; several nieces and nephews; his children: Marc and Kim Hartzendorf, Beverly Hartzendorf and Justin Bauer, Elizabeth and Patricia Hartzendorf, Jonathan Hartzendorf and Rocio Rodriguez, and Hayley Hartzendorf; step-daughter Rita Rose and Colby. He is survived by two granddaughters: Addison Hartzendorf and Harper Bauer; 3 step-grandchildren: Salem Rose, Selene Rose and Kolbe Cottor.

Visitation will be held Friday, January 17, 2025, 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Resthaven Funeral Home Chapel, Sinton. A Chapel Service will be held, Saturday 18, 2025, 10:00 AM at the Resthaven Funeral Chapel. Interment will follow in Sinton Cemetery. A Reception will be held at the Lumber Yard after burial.  In lieu of flowers, donation may be made to a charity of your choice.

Guestbook available online at www.resthavenfunerals.com

Arrangements and care entrusted to Resthaven Funeral Home, Sinton.