HENRY J. "HANK" HANSEN, JR., age 97, of Portage, passed away Monday, August 21, 2017. Surviving are his two sons, Paul (Bernadette) of Delafield, WI and Robert (Patricia) of Schererville; 4 grandsons, Karl (Jeannette Messer), Kenneth (Julie Vanderhei), Erik (Nancy), and Adam; and 2 great-grandsons, Connor and Philip Henry. Henry was born on June 11, 1920 in Lake Linden, MI. Mr. Hansen graduated from the Lake Linden-Hubbell Public School system. In 1942, he received a bachelor of science degree in metallurgical engineering from Michigan Tech in Houghton, MI. He served as an officer in the 7th Engineer Combat Battalion attached to the 5th Infantry Division during World War II. On his return to the United States in 1945 he married Clarice A. Strand of Laurium, MI, and returned to Michigan Tech to earn a master's degree in metallurgical engineering. In 1946, he and Clarice moved to Gary, IN, where he took a job as a junior metallurgist with the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company. He retired in 1978 as Division Metallurgist of the combined Gary Works and Sheet and Tin Mill. He conceived and developed several patents for US Steel, including one for Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM), which is used to provide the smooth, shiny finish on today's automobiles. For this, he received a Finalist Award from the Northwest Indiana Society of Innovators in 2011. Henry had a lifelong fascination with the history of copper mining in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and with research on various metallurgical projects.

Henry was a member of several technical societies, a former president of the Portage Town Board and later of the Portage city council, active in the affairs of Augustana Lutheran Church, and a member of Portage's Rotary Club.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Clarice (nee Strand), parents, Henry J. and Mary Hansen, and brother, Karl Hansen.

A visitation for Henry will be Saturday, August 26, 2017 from 1:00 p.m. until the time of service at 3:00 p.m. at Rees Funeral Home, Hobart Chapel, 600 W. Old Ridge Rd., with Rev. Charles R. Strietelmeier officiating. Cremation will follow with a private burial of cremains at Maple Hill Cemetery in Lake Linden, MI. For information please call (219) 942-2109 or go online at www.reesfuneralhomes.com