Dustin “Dusty” Hainsfurther was a man’s best friend’s best friend.

“Dustin spent time at the Veterinary School walking their dogs and talking to the staff about their work,” said his father Mitch Hainsfurther, who ran a retriever training business with his son called [Webfoot Kennel](http://www.webfootkennel.com/about-us/). “His passion for waterfowl hunting and training retrievers had opened up another set of doors.”

Hainsfurther, of Carlinville, Ill., died June 4 after sustaining injuries in an automobile accident near his home.

This August, he would have entered his senior year at MU as a personal finance management major with a minor in finance. At school, he loved venturing from the big school atmosphere of MU to the calmer outdoors like the Missouri River or Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area.

He was also passionate about MU, his father said.

“If we were on campus with Dustin, he always had a big smile,” he said. “It seemed he greeted someone every few steps as he wanted to show us something new on campus.”

That was something distinctive about Hainsfurther, his father noted — he seemed to know everyone. Evidenced by the numerous students, family members, friends, faculty members, coaches, waterfowl hunters and professional retriever trainers who attended his services, Hainsfurther wanted to befriend everybody.

“The most touching thing of all were the former classmates from high school (who showed up to the services) that were not the star athletes, the honors students, the most popular students or from the well-to-do families,” Mitch Hainsfurther said. “They were just the students who most people don’t know, but Dustin was kind and nice to them as he was to his best friends or fellow athletes. Dustin didn’t discriminate – his beautiful smile and magnetic personality were for all.”

These friends created a [Facebook page](http://www.facebook.com/pages/In-The-Memory-Of-Dustin-Dusty-Hainsfurther/215505031802953?ref=ts) where more than 650 friends and family members have shown their love for Hainsfurther.

“Dusty had so many friends,” said Tim Tarter, a high school friend of Hainsfurther’s. “He could walk up to anyone and start a conversation – just one of those people. He will truly be missed.”

Hainsfurther always had an open ear and was happy to talk to any stranger, loved ones remember.

“He was a person that if you met once you were immediately connected with,” his father said. “You wanted to call him your friend. Why? Dustin was always more interested in what you were doing than anything he had done.”

Because of this, he nestled a place in the hearts of almost everyone he met.

“We knew Dustin was social and put a lot of miles on his car, but in the last week we found out how much a part of other peoples’ lives he had become,” Mitch Hainsfurther said. “Many parents considered Dustin as one of their own.”

His mother, or “Momma” as he called her, remembers her son returning home after some time at school with a great smile, open arms and a car full of laundry.

“Dustin recently thanked his mother and I for allowing him to grow up in the country and in Carlinville, teaching him manners, right from wrong and giving him wings to fly,” Mitch Hainsfurther said.

Out of everything he remembers his son for, though, Mitch Hainsfurther said there is one phrase often muttered by sportscasters that might best describe his son:

“He touched them all.”

Hainsfurther is survived by his mother Tammy, his father Mitch and his brothers Brandon and Jacob. A prayer service was held in his memory June 7 at Sts. Mary and Joseph Catholic Church in Carlinville.