Lars Hedstrom ’32

LARS HEDSMOM DIED in Florida Feb. 15, 1991. He came to us from Hotchkiss and at college was a member of Campus Club, and the electrical manager of Triangle Club.

His Triangle experience was prophetic, for Lars spent the rest of his life tinkering with things. He operated under the rubric of industrial designer, but he was actually an inventor, the holder of a number of patents. He worked in various companies, among them Thomas & Betts, Wiss, and Perkin Elmer, but his true bent lay in solving mechanical or electrical problem with new designs or new ideas of his own. His first success came with the application of a timecontrol switch to a washing machine, leading to the creation of the first laundromat. During WWII Lars worked at Bates Manufacturing, helping the company convert to the production of war material. Along the way he designed plastic bundles, closures for large paint cans, electric blanket controls, boat speedometers, and many other things.

Lars was one of the very first in our Class to get marriedto Amanda Bouldin a week after graduation. After 55 happy years together she died and Lars moved to Florida. He is survived by a daughter, Lisa H. Winter, a son, Lars Jr., and six grandchildren. Our sympathies go to them in the loss of a man with such an original and inventive mind.

The Class of l932