Hank died May 8, 2004, of natural causes in the company of his daughter and son. He grew up in Missoula and attended St. Francis Grade School, Missoula County High School and the University of Montana. He was a hiker, and a hunter, and a skier, and an angler, and he canoed every river and crossed every stream in the Five Valleys.

Hank flew B-17s in World War II. That most intense year of his life remained riveted in his memory ever after. When recently asked which 15 minutes he'd like to live over, it was the bomb run over Berlin. He was a smokejumper after the war in the company of other combat vets. They were winding down.

Hank worked for the Missoulian for 35 years. He provided security and an atmosphere that inspired a deep respect for life and nature. He was a liberal. He was inclusive. He believed men might respond to their better angels. Hank jumped at Missoula 1946-47.