Waukon man who wore a suit everyday passes away

Keith Hastings, the Waukon man who wore a suit every day, whether he was cleaning house or going out for coffee or mowing the lawn, has died.

“Keith put on his last suit yesterday,” wrote his good friend, Dominick Damiano in an e-mail. “He passed on Friday from a brain tumor.”

He was 86. We met Keith last September, a small but jovial man who sold men's clothes in Waukon for more than half a century.

He bought more than 150 suits in his lifetime.

In good health then, he still had eight suits in his closet and wore one as he climbed aboard his riding lawn mower.

Ramblin' Column from September 18, 2009:

Keith Hastings has never paid attention to casual Fridays. Or casual Saturdays, Sundays . . .

Every day, Keith, 85, dons a white long-sleeved shirt, a tie and a suit.

“I was used to it,” says Keith, who sold suits for half a century until he retired 15 years ago. “And I thought, if I was used to it, I'd wear it.”

So he wears a suit to shop for groceries. To go out for coffee. Even to mow the lawn.

If the day is too hot, Keith might remove his jacket before climbing aboard his bright red riding lawn mower. But, for the most part, the coat stays on. And the tie doesn't come off until, oh, around 9 at night.

“He probably takes a bath in it,” jokes his daily coffee mate, Dominick Damiano. “He's so used to wearing a suit he probably doesn't have anything else to wear.”

Keith's bedroom closet bears out that premise - 20 white shirts and eight suits, from dark blue to light gray.

He remembers his first suit, a dark blue wool, his mother bought when he was 11.

“Hot, oh, my God, it was hot,” he laughs. “I thought it was nice. I really took care of that suit.”

About that time, when folks rolled up the living room rug to dance, Keith played banjo with his father, Chester, in a trio. He made 75 cents a night.

“I'd give dad my money so he could go to town and buy groceries,” Keith says about the Depression ‘30s. “For school, dad would buy us a penny pencil, a nickel tablet, overalls and a shirt.”

All summer he went barefoot, saving his shoes for colder weather.

After a couple of years of high school, Keith went to work. He pumped gas for $5 a week, tested tubes at a radio repair shop, then sold men's clothing at the B&B Store owned by brothers Ben and Bob Antenoff.

Keith, who then first spent his own money on a suit, $14 at discount, loved dressing up for work. He still remembers the day a big farmer, size 54 coat, liked the first suit Keith showed him. He rang it up - $24.98.

“That was my first suit sale,” Keith says. “I was pretty tickled, too.”

Through the years the business changed names but Keith stayed put. And, he figures, he bought three or four suits a year, probably more than 150 in his lifetime. (He has donated most of them to charity.)

Healthy at 85, although he dearly misses Jean, his wife of 53 years who died last year, Keith hasn't thought about his own funeral. Or what suit he should wear, although he does have a preference.

“I like dark blue,” he chuckles. “But I'll be here another 20 years unless a car hits me.”