Eric Steven vonHentschel

58, of Hagerstown, Maryland

• Passed away at his home of heart failure on September 8, 2023.

He was born June 18, 1965 in Hartford, Connecticut to Demetrius and Judith vonHentschel. In 1972 the family moved to Cape Cod, Massachusetts where Eric grew up in Brewster with his siblings, Kurt and Karen. He attended Nauset Middle School and then Cape Cod Regional Technical High School where he graduated in 1983 after studying Graphic Arts. His childhood was spent enjoying summers on Nauset Beach in the families 4X4 van, riding bikes and swimming in Nickerson State Park and going to the shop in Harwich with his dad. It was a wonderful life spent with family and friends going to car shows, car races, van meets, the beach and concerts. There were camping trips up and down the East coast and many April school vacations spent at one of his lifelong favorite places, Cape Hatteras, NC. There were frequent weekends spent in Connecticut visiting family and friends, and camping trips to Old Orchard Beach, Maine and Laconia, New Hampshire. He loved working on cars, the family home was a favorite hangout for friends, (it usually looked like a used car lot lol)

Listening to music was one of his favorite things, when he was younger you would often hear his feet tapping to the beat of the music he was listening to with headphones in his room… Steve Miller Band, Jimmy Buffett, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Journey, Aldo Nova… I could go on and on… and he had the best collection of albums and cassette tapes! One of the most beautiful things he ever did was bring his sister a Walkman and his whole collection of tapes to the hospital when she had been in a car accident at 14.

GOD, this is so difficult… how do you sum up over 50 years of a wonderful life filled with family and friends? How do you choose just a few memories when there are so many? Cars and music… the beach and music… there was always music.

• Eric knew from the young age of 12 when he was diagnosed with diabetes that he probably wouldn’t live as long as others. I believe that was the force driving him to accomplish as much as he could while he was here. In the mid 90’s he followed his heart and moved to Detroit to work at Dart and pursue his passion. He continued to follow that passion working for companies like Lukovich Racing, Wheel to Wheel, Hardcore Racing, ET Performance and LSM. He also had his hand in many R&D projects with industry leaders. Eric married his wife Kim in September of 2001 and in October of 2003 they welcomed their son John. Eric introduced a whole new world to Kim as her life became filled with all the things he loved that she had never experienced. Most recently Eric and his son John had rented a garage and were building a car together. Unfortunately it is unfinished. In 2009 he relocated to Hagerstown, MD with his wife and young son and continued his career building racing engines and earning his well respected place in the racing community. To quote an industry leader, “He will be a great loss to the von Hentschel family, but he will also be a great loss to the racing community. So few people truly understand airflow and it's impact on engine performance. Most cylinder head porters are posers that copy from people like Eric. I wish I would have met him.”

• ~Allan Miller, Owner, BMR Suspension

• Eric is survived by his wife of 22 years, Kimberly Martin vonHentschel and son John vonHentschel, both of Hagerstown, MD. His father, Demetrius vonHentschel of Onset, MA, brother Kurt vonHentschel of Burlington, NC, sister Karen vonHentschel of Saint Petersburg, FL, his nieces, Aja VonHentschel and Stevie vonHentschel, his sister in law Kristen VonHentschel of Mashpee, MA and we can’t leave out his loving cat Maks.

Eric was Predeceased by his mother Judith VonHentschel (10/2/2014)

There will be a celebration of Eric’s life, Saturday, September 30th at Noon at:

Booze Brothers Performance 4774 Main Street Chambersburg, PA 17202

Please join us and share your stories of Eric, and please share pictures, stories, videos, anything you have here on his life’s timeline❤️

“It’s a beautiful thing when a passion and a career come together”

The Dash

I read of a man who stood to speak at a funeral of a friend.  He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth and spoke of the following date with tears but said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time they spent alive on earth and now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.

What matters is how we lived and loved and how we spend our dash.

If anyone would like to bless Eric’s wife and son with a donation, a Memorial fund has been established here.

• Memorial donation suggestions: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation