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.  

  

Russellville Lives RG

                                                        

                                                                     Roy Garbarino        

                    Here is a fact: Roy Garbarino's life as a business man was hugely successful.  Here's another fact:  If Harvard Business School were to do a case study of Roy's success it would drive them nuts. And therein lies a tale.

Roy is 91 and looks much younger.  Works out every day and since the 1950s has walked to the moon and back so always stayed trim with good posture.  He's been an inmate at Russellville since 2019.  As a young man he was an indifferent student in school but his grades were still OK.  Graduating from high school in Gresham, Oregon in 1949, Roy had no master plan for his life's journey.  The winds of war were blowing in from the Korean peninsula and creating a draft in America, so Roy and three of his buddies dodged it by enlisting in the U.S. Air Force.

After the war he found himself a 25 year old civilian without a clue as what he should do with his life. No job. Broke. So he says to himself, "Maybe I should get married."  A pattern is forming here. Not the best decision under the circumstances but an excellent result: 58 years together with a family of one son and two daughters.  But, with a new wife, it was apparent that employment was a prime objective and so Roy started cold calling on different craft unions, looking for an apprentice job. He scored with the electrician's union and was on his way to becoming a certified electrician.

Roy worked for four years at Wacto Electric before deciding to leave with two other Wacto employees to open their own shop.  They could not have picked a worse time to get their new venture -- The Electric Group -- off the runway and flying.  The American  economy in 1983 was in the dumpster but the saving factor for the trio was the relationships they had made with three large companies while at Waco. They took those companies with them when they left. Another questionable decision that led to a rich reward.

Roy and Ed Danill bought out their third partner and continued on with a rock-solid handshake that resulted in their company operating with a harmonious management that never went in the red. At no time did they have a written business plan but the confidence their client base had in their reliability fueled a continuing successful expansion.  Roy is self-deprecating about his decision making but the proof is in factual results. Like buying a $10,000 share in a less than five star golf course near Boring, Oregon and seeing it evolve into a giant winner.  His long fascination with the go to the moon or go to the bread line  stock market has also been rewarding for him. He ditched his old broker after she advised him to 86 his McDonald's and Costco portfolios and started flying with his own wings.  There was always turbulent air but far more smooth landings than crashes. In Roy's lifetime obsession with poker it's the joy of playing that provides the main reward while the chips coming his way have their own special zing.  And let's mention golf which Roy describes as the evil stain on his soul.  His more than decent eight handicap testified to his lifelong dedication to the sport, as do his 12 holes-in-one ("Hit a million balls," Roy says, "and some of them are bound to go in a hole.")

If Roy decides to open Garbarino College he will probably tell his students (after he banks their tuition payments), "Don't bring notebooks and pencils to class because we'll just talk about the importance of doing what seems comfortable at the time.  Take the rest of class off.  See you next week." 

Roy's resume is not too bad for a guy who never got a Harvard MBA and who made a nice living twisting wire and changing light bulbs.