Hafner was known for his busts of Thomas A. Edison, Daniel Carter Beard, Maude Adams and Richard Strauss. His "Peter Pan" was done for a fountain in the lobby of the Paramount Theatre in Times Square.

"Golden Age," his life-size portrayal of parents with two babies, executed for the lobby of the Albee Theatre in Brooklyn, attracted attention when it was shown at the annual exhibition of the National Academy of Design here in 1926.

Mr. Hafner was born in Omaha and studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Art Students League in this city and the Beaux Arts in Paris. He became an assistant in the studio of the late Daniel Chester French, the sculptor, and later worked as a student assistant with other sculptors. These were Charles H. Nichaus, Herman McNeil and Albert Jaegers.

In 1925, Mr. Hafner was named an instructor at the New York Evening Industrial School of Art, a post he held for many years. He served as director of adult art classes of the University of the State of New York in 1933 and as instructor in sculpture at the New York Industrial School of Art in 1936.