Hans Walter Hafner,42, of Orange St. New Haven son of Walter A. and Elsie Gumz Hafner of Meriden passed away Friday, February 13, 2004. He was born in Meriden, March 27, 1961 and graduated from Maloney H. S. in 1979. He then graduated from the Hartt School of Music and from Connecticut State College. He was employed by Wacovia, formerly Union Trust Bank as a teller manager for over 20 years. Hans loved his family, friends, and music and travel. He had a particular passion for opera and maintained a correspondence with many of his friends in that world. He started his involvement with music at the age of 16 and matured to a conductor of the Edelweis Chorus in West Haven. He was a former organist at the Emanuel Lutheran Church in New Haven and a featured soloist at many other congregations. In addition to his parents he is survived by his sister, Linda H. Murphy and her husband, Gavin Murphy of Hebron, CT, his uncle and aunt, Klaus and Ginny Gumz and many cousins in the US and Germany. Friends may call Tuesday, Feb. 17 from 4 - 8 p.m. at the BEECHER & BENNETT FLATOW FUNERAL HOME, 48 Cook Ave., Meriden. Funeral service Wed. at 11 a.m. at St. John Lutheran Church, 520 Paddock Ave., Meriden. Rev. David Brinkley will officiate. Burial in Gethsemane Cemetery will be private. Memorial contributions may be sent to the American Diabetes Assoc., 200 White Plains Rd., Tarrytown, NY 10591 or to the Edelweis Chorus, 520 Orange Ave., West Haven, CT 06516.