Hasan Kelekci

1930-2022

Hasan Ali Kelekci - beloved son, husband, father, and grandfather passed away on Sunday August 28th surrounded by his loving family. He lived a long and wonderful life.

Hasan was born to Ali and Gulsum Kelekci on June 5, 1930. He was one of 8 children and the family lived on and operated a farm in Tarsus, Turkey.

Hasan was ambitious from an early age and sought to attend an American School in southern Turkey. His father was very supportive of these ambitions and allowed him to attend. From there, Hasan went onto Robert College, an American University in Istanbul where he received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering.

When Hasan decided he wanted to pursue a master’s degree in Civil Engineering, he bravely headed to the United States to attend the University of Southern California. Hasan would tell a story about traveling in 1956 for 2 days on the plane and finally arriving in Los Angeles with absolutely no idea how to get to the college from the airport. He sleepily boarded the wrong bus and kept dozing off as the bus drove on. When he awoke, he asked the bus driver to recommend a place to stay. The kind bus driver drove off of his route to take Hasan to safe lodging close to the University.

After graduating from USC, he returned to Turkey and there he met his Bride to be, Betil Berkman. There’s was a whirlwind courtship as they met in late 1960 and married 2 months later. That whirlwind courtship turned into a 61-year marriage! A few years into their marriage, Hasan and “Betty” were blessed with two sons—first Ali and then Sedat.

In 1966 Hasan took a job with Tumpane company and the family spent many years living all over the globe. Some of the most interesting places they lived were Saudi Arabia, Germany, and Italy. In America they lived for time periods in California and Montana. In 1973, the family finally settled in Atlanta and two years later Hasan left Tumpane to pursue his dream of building homes and having his own business. He founded HASK Construction and to this day the business thrives with his son Ali (Al) as President running the company.

Hasan had a deep love for all sports but especially the Atlanta Braves. He was a fan dating back to the early seventies and even though the Braves had many years when they were consistently losing, he never gave up on them. That loyalty paid off when he got to witness the Braves’ World Series wins in 1995 and 2021.

During Hasan’s retirement years, he and Betil got to spend a lot of time traveling in both the United States and internationally, but maybe his greatest retirement joy was his three granddaughters. Hasan was a spectator for quite a bit of cheerleading and attended many dance recitals, plays, soccer, and volleyball games. From the time he had grandchildren onward, he was affectionately known as “Dede” to all.

Hasan is survived by his wife Betil, his son Ali (Madolyn), his son Sedat and his granddaughters Laura Merritt (Tyler), Holly Kelekci and Grace Kelekci who will all miss him terribly.

The family will have a private burial and service.