Henry Hansen Story
He also developed a love of softball. He was no sports fan--just loved to play. And the church provided him the opportunity. He never achieved great fame, but was consistent in getting good base hits and was a fearless catcher. Not that his catching skills were outstanding, only that he had no fear of being hurt. He would plant himself on home plate and over and over have the runner slam into him and after all the dust settle and the arms and legs untangled, he'd emerge smiling and 'healthy'. As he grew older and older and continued to play, this became a phenomenon and caused a great deal of amazement from his teammates and certainly from the young athletes who crashed into him. He seldom complained of hurts or pain or any weakness of his body, except his back. As he continued to lift heavy equipment he did injury to his back that he did suffer with in his later years. But otherwise he had the ability to heal and recover so quickly that it was hard for him to understand why anyone else complained.
He was hit in the head by a mortar board one day on the job--dropped from above him and it looked like a disaster. It was the comer of the board that caught him--caused a cut and lots of blood. His helpers tried to send him to the doctor but he refused to go--wanted to finish a hearth--so wiped the blood out of his eyes and kept working. At the end of the day he did consent to see a doctor and stopped at the clinic. The nurse couldn't see any problem--just the dried blood--so they washed his hair and neither she nor the doctor could find anything to fix. He never found anymore reason to worry about it. He had several close calls--would do jobs that other men would not and seemed to have no fear of heights. On one very tall project, his helper was so afraid that he would have Hank pray before he started. On the Sears job (the old Sears on Grand Avenue) he was on a scaffold that broke and he fell. The man on the level below him heard him and reached out and snagged him. He seemed to have a guardian angel. Also, anyone who ever took his blood pressure made comments on how great it was and that he would live to 100. He believed that and so did I. He never even caught colds.
I, on the other hand, was having a lot of health problems but learned early on there was no use mentioning any of them (unless there was open bleeding). Hank believed that if you didn't talk about 'problems' they would go away. He didn't really believe in doctors nor medicine--not even aspirin. He was healthy and ambitious and tireless and was available to anyone who ever needed help of any kind. He loved to help people. As the years went by this became a real problem to his family. I think he just gravitated to where he found the most 'strokes'! He was praised lavishly by everyone, except his family, who expected and took for granted what he did. It was much more rewarding to help someone else. He was great (here at home) on the big things--but it was in the little things that became very frustrating. An example was in lawn mowing--or yard up-keep. He just didn't care. If asked about mowing the lawn (he had riding mowers) he'd say "I had the horse (or cow) on it last week and I'll put him on it again soon"--and he was serious! We kept the job from the kids because of the retaining walls which we felt were dangerous. After they became older, they had no more interest in lawn mowing than he did. If something broke, his standard reply was "buy another one, it isn't worth my time" and then he'd be off to go help someone else.
His love of service found an outlet in the Church. Over the years he held many positions. He was in leadership in the Elders Quorum, Seventies and High Priests. He was even in the Boy Scout Program for awhile. He was in the Bishopric when Tigard was a new ward. The Church is service oriented and Hank and his trucks were popular and in demand. There is no way to record the many years of his willing service--he loved it all and his 'fame' spread. Eventually he was called to the activities committee. There he found his true 'calling' as it turned out. He loved it--he gathered a roster of helpers that was very impressive--both from size and also because they were almost all very young women and very pretty--not to mention talented. And he took on activities that most activity chairmen wouldn't have to deal with--or want to. For years and years he was in charge of the Coke Shack at the High School--a fund raiser that brought in revenue as well as a great fellow--shipping tool for the ward. Any new move-ins were quickly signed up for their turns. He made all the assignments and then the follow up calls and bought the ice and buns, took care of the details and did a great job. Had a talent for finding the right people to assign responsibilities to--they worked with him willingly and happily and as he was a 'peace-maker' there were few problems. That took care of Fall. In the Spring and Summer, there was softball. His favorite activity probably.
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He 'coached' the team for many years and surely it was a fellowshipping tool also. Any man coming into the ward was invited and encouraged to turn out. They had a great 'esprit-de-corps' and lots of participation-sand some successes. We (Tigard II) went to Salt Lake for the grand finals the last year the Church held them there. There were a lot of years we went to Seattle for area finals. He had a fast-pitch team and also for several years, a slow-pitch team. He coached them both and made all the phone calls for both games and practices. This took a lot of time--he was still holding together his business and had family obligations but we learned to expect little.
The year Dean was 16 was a lowpoint in my estimation. We owned a boat and skis (water) and never got to use them once that whole summer. Every Saturday was softball, one or the other, and several nights a week. I had kept score for the team for years but our kids refused to go to any game and eventually I quit also--as a way of protest. But it didn't bother him at all. I raised a big garden every year but needed his help to get it planted. It became later and later each year before the ground was plowed. The more we needed him the more frustrated we got but he seemed oblivious. The story of his life would be neither accurate nor complete without the warts--surely he wasn't perfect-yet I could fill these pages with the great things he did. I heard them then and I still hear about them now, nearly three years after his death.
At the time of the building of the temple he was invited to choose a crew and break the ground (or clear it) for the ground-breaking. He used his tractor and equipment and spent every spare moment for a week working on that wonderful project. There was a meeting for Pres. Hinkley and the Stake Presidents in this area and Hank (and I) were invited also. Later on during the construction, sightseers and trouble-makers became a problem and a guard patrol was needed--and was given to Hank to set up and maintain.
He was very organized, though looking at his desk wouldn't have attested to that. His memory wasn't the finest so he learned how to use notebooks. He kept one for every category that he was involved in. He started a family tradition for the Hansen family, who up to that time had only gathered for weddings and funerals. He convinced his brothers and sisters of the need to plan a yearly picnic and organized and set it up (with a notebook) then found that he couldn't be there for several years running since it fell during his softball season.
He was the President of our beloved study group (dear friends from the Tualatin Valley Ward mostly that have been a 'group' for many years and still are). Hank kept a notebook. Had one for his Temple guard patrol. Had notebooks for every Ward position he held. The Stake caught on the to successes of the Tigard II Ward and made him Stake Activities and for some time he did both Ward and Stake. His blood drives brought great success--and most notably from the Tigard II Ward. He chose good people, delegated and followed through. His parties are legend. He knew how to put together great activities or small ones, was careful and concerned about both. When the Stake was new they held a grand affair in the Tigard Chapel ballfield--a luau--and those who attended will never forget the details of that party. He had all those darling young women planning the neatest things and he was ready and willing to make, borrow, buy, fix up any idea they could come up with. He had a volcano that not only roared and had fire coming out the top but also had water running down the side (PGE's pump) and covered with black Visqueen and bedecked with flowers. He had a lake (with real fish), a real bridge for the entryway--everything landscaped, palm trees, a gazebo, a large trailer (brick company) covered with Hawaiian decor and entertainment provided by Island people (trailer was the stage). Flowers and greenery everywhere and the tables set and decorated in the theme, for hundreds of people--dinner was traditional food--pig, roasted in a pit, etc, etc...
If anyone needed the sound system, electrical set up, use of the building (both Ward and Stake) for any reason, he was available and had keys to everything including the Bishop's office. No one ever had a chance to regret the trust given to him. He was seldom even given a budget--instead was just told to use whatever money he needed to make a great activity. He was by nature conservative so that wasn't too scary! His Christmas dinners for the adults in the Ward were always wonderful. He started on those plans a year ahead and worked harder than anyone else. His favorite place to start was on a "dropped ceiling." And he did them like no one else has before or since.
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