Russellville Lives RH

                                                             

                                                              Robert Hensel

Let's see, will it be easier to tell you what Bob Hensel hasn't done in his life or what he has done? First you need to know that he and Apple's Steve Jobs share one characteristic regarding their work ethos: perfect is the only acceptable standard.  And Bob is nicer to people than Steve was.

He carries the Methuselah gene, a gift from his parents at the time of his birth in 1946,  making him a young 75 today.  His paternal aunt checked out at 103. It's approaching Bob's third year at Russellville Park and his ownership of two parking spaces in the east garage will tip you off to how his interior timing belt is programmed.

See, Bob Hensel is all about machinery, whether it's a piece of equipment the size of a railroad boxcar that is designed to make multiple thin threads or a device to stamp out microphones the size of a grain of sand.  How about his collection of six vintage Volkswagens to which he gave loving care and took to car shows where he won a roomful of trophies?  Is that a toothbrush he's using on those wheel spokes?

Bob will confess to not being Albert Einstein in elementary and high school, but he did enjoy his wood shop and metal shop classes.  Particularly metal shop. When he graduated in 1964 the first thing he did was travel to Europe and spend 10 weeks riding a bicycle on a 1,000 mile adventure with a diverse group of cyclists . While in Europe he was notified that he must register for the draft and he knew Vietnam was not his cup of tea. So he signed on to a six-year enlistment in the Air Force Reserve where he was classified as an aircraft engine mechanic.  It left him time to get a job as an apprentice machinist where he acquired more skills to add to his personal tool chest.  The war in Vietnam ended as did his hitch in the reserves, so he moved around to a lot of different jobs before enlisting in the United States Air Force and reserves where he served for 22 1/2 years. 

Those years in the Air Force gave him opportunities for learning high tech computer application and aircraft maintenance.  Using the G.I. Bill at the end of his enlistment he entered college and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology in Manufacturing.  Those post-Air Force years were a parade of jobs working with different companies as his expertise evolved, building and installing complicated machinery.  Bob's affinity for making high-tech machinery behave took him all over the world, from England and Germany to the exciting industrial culture of Hong Kong.  His "been there" pins fill a map of planet Earth's industrialized nations.

Now Bob Hensel's relaxed second life at Russellville is devoted to the search for the perfect cars  to occupy those two  slots in the east basement garage and to his enjoyment of building incredibly complicated models of houses and machines, from cars to helicopters.  Walk by his #245 apartment and look at the model car he built displayed on the shelf outside his door.  All wood.  Tiny little parts that move.  All put together with precision by that master machinist inside the apartment, plotting his next acquisitions of perfect machines.