Mike Hans

Mike Hans was a man who enjoyed the simple pleasures in life, with simple tastes and an easygoing demeanor. He was a T-shirt and jeans kind of guy, and what you saw was what you got with Mike. Those who knew him saw a wonderful man, a loving husband and father, and a great friend to so many people. They saw a man so easy to please, yet impossible to forget.

Mike’s story began on a warm summer day in 1970, in the bustling city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Those were such turbulent times in this country, as the Vietnam War raged overseas, and protesters crowded our nation’s capital here at home. Yet on June 20, 1970, a warm, sunny Saturday in Grand Rapids, Bill and Norma (Keely) Hans found reason to celebrate, with the birth of their third child, a baby son they named Michael.

Little Mike joined his older brother Pete and big sister June in the family’s home in Grand Rapids, where his father worked for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, and his mother cared for the kids.

Mike was always a good kid, with a good heart, even from a young age. He was a very active boy, and attended West Side Christian School from kindergarten to the ninth grade. He also enjoyed sports, and was on the wrestling team and played other sports, too. Mike then attended Union High School. He loved baseball and played it often in his teen years.

In October of 1992, he met a wonderful young woman named Jenny Eden, who was from Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula. They played cards together with their mutual friend Elizabeth, and Mike summoned the courage to ask her on a real date. Jenny agreed to go on a double date with Elizabeth and her boyfriend, and the two couples went bowling one evening. That’s all it took for Mike and Jenny, who saw sparks fly.

Eventually she saw Mike for the wonderful man he was, and after two years of dating, the couple was married, on June 3, 1994, at St. Luke’s Church in Grand Rapids. They had a double wedding with Mike’s sister June and her husband, Michael. They called it the “Double MJ” wedding.

The newlyweds honeymooned at Jenny’s parents cabin in the UP, before settling into their home in Grand Rapids. Mike wanted children right away, but Jenny made him wait a couple of years, until they got on better footing. Mike worked temp jobs at first, while Jenny worked for a label company, but eventually he found work at Custom Printers, and later Gilson Graphics, working in the bindery department. Mike loved working there, loved what he did, and the people he worked with, too.

In 1996, Mike and Jenny celebrated the birth of their first child, their daughter Kaylyn, who made Mike so happy and proud. His joy was doubled when Ashley arrived in 2001 and rounded out the family. Mike was a great father, and spent plenty of quality time with his girls. He was a true animal lover, and enjoyed sharing that love with his kids, and taking them to the John Ball Zoo. Mike was also so proud of Kaylyn’s soccer achievements, and loved to watch her games. Mike enjoyed his time with Ashley by taking her to the beach, the Double JJ Ranch, or the zoo where they would swim, and ride ponies.

Mike spent plenty of time with the girls, especially since he and Jenny worked different schedules for more than 10 years. Mike worked second shift, while Jenny worked first shift, which they did willingly rather than pay for daycare. Mike and Jenny didn’t see each other much during the week as a result, but they tried to make up for it on the weekends.

Mike and Jenny were very different in many ways, but opposites do indeed attract. Mike loved KISS and country music (quite the musical mix!), while Jenny couldn’t stand country. Mike loved animals, especially dogs, and Jenny was a cat person. So the family had two cats and a dog named Cindy, who was Mike’s responsibility.

Mike and Jenny’s greatest difference actually brought them closer together. Growing up in Escanaba, Jenny's family naturally were Green Bay Packers fans, while Mike was a loyal Detroit Lions follower. They enjoyed ribbing each other, their own friendly “rivalry” and even went to a few Lions-Packers games, too. Mike and Jenny both loved sports, especially football and NASCAR, and all their family and friends knew better than to call them when one of the two was on TV!

Mike was a man who enjoyed life’s simpler pleasures, from a game or a race on TV, to simply walking out his back door and fishing off the banks of the Grand River, where he lived.

He had simple pleasures and simple tastes, too. He loved Little Debbie Swiss Rolls (but only the double-chocolate kind), and devoured them daily, washed down with an ice-cold Pepsi, the only thing he ever drank (not even water or beer)! His favorite meal was a trip to TGI Friday’s, for a big slab of barbecue ribs and a tall Pepsi-Cola.

Mike was just that kind of guy, who always knew what he wanted and what made him happiest. He could be stubborn at times, but he had such a great heart, and would give anybody the shirt of his back. He certainly had it to give! Mike had an extensive collection of T-shirts, nearly 300 of them, from NASCAR races, concerts, football games and elsewhere.

Sadly, Mike died on Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at the age of 37.

Mike was a good man, who enjoyed the simple things in life, from a good meal, to a good game, to simply spending time with his loving family. He was a T-shirt and jeans kind of guy, and when it came to Mike, what you saw was what you got. To those who knew him best, they saw a good man, with a great heart, whose love and memory lives on in them today. He will be greatly missed.

He was preceded in death by his father, William. Mike is survived by his wife, Jenny; daughters, Kaylyn and Ashley; mother, Norma Hans; brother, Pete (Lynn) Hans; and sister, June (Michael) Loyd. Friends may meet his family on Sunday from 7-9 PM and Monday for one hour prior to the service at Heritage Life Story Funeral Home, 851 Leonard St. N.W. The funeral service will be held on Monday at 1 PM at the funeral home. Interment in Washington Park Memorial Garden. Memorial contributions towards his children may be made at any Fifth Third Bank in the name of Jen Hans. Please visit www.lifestorynet.com to read Mike’s entire Life Story, share a memory or photo, or sign the guestbook.