Hank was raised by immigrant parents in Hackensack New Jersey. He was the youngest of six children. His father had an apple orchard and his father & mother were hard workers. Their names were Dominque and Angelina. Hank worked as a golf caddy at the age of 10 and contributed financially to help his parents make ends meet. His love for the game of golf began there. He was also known to earn money by boxing on the side in offbeat hangouts in the town of Hackensack. It’s hard to imagine a man allowing people to tape his hands up so he can potentially damage them fighting. They fought without gloves. You would think he would want to protect them for his golf game, but he learned many things through his short boxing career that would later help him in life.
In the town of Hackensack, Hank laid ground for building relationships through his work, cultivating and setting himself up for a place in society. At one point he was The Secretary for the board of Health for Hackensack.
Hank eventually gave up boxing for another interest. After serving in the US army in the Phillipines and Japan in WWII, he became an Arthur Murray Dance instructor. He had spent his early years following the Dorsey brothers around Coney Island, Westchester and Manhattan. He really enjoyed the Fox-Trot & Lindy and dancing to the Big Bands, the music of the that era. He was very graceful on his feet probably due to his early boxing days. This only helped him to enhance & perfect his golf swing.
Hank eventually turned pro, class “A” PGA . He was on tour during the 1950′s, making the local papers with his successes. He taught at Inglewood CC New Jersey, Commack Hills CC Long Island, NY, Bethpage CC Long Island NY, and others like Rockhill Long Island.
He had enjoyed an athletic career where he was able to teach a community of comedic celebrities like Buddy Hacket, Joey Bishop, Dick Shawn. Other celebrities he taught golf to were Rocky Marciano, Carey Grant, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and many others.
When asked about his proudest life accomplishments as he looks back on them from Dogwood Forest assisted living here in Marietta, he said, raising his four children, being a golf professional, and proud of taking care of the health of his family and himself. When asked about advice to a college graduates, he said stay out of other people’s business. Keep your nose to the grind, and stay focused. When asked about starting a family his comments were about learning how to save money for the future. These responses were typical coming from a young adult of the “Great Depression”.
He came to Dogwood Forest’s assisted living Marietta community two years ago due to the inability to drive correctly and the lack of interest to feed himself. We wasn’t interested in cooking for himself anymore, so he got sick and was hospitalized.His daughter’s friend, Karleen Turner, recommended Dogwood Forest Marietta (called Eden Gardens at the time) because her father was there and loved it.
What he enjoys the most at Dogwood are the activities. He loves bingo and word games. He wins prizes which in turn he gives them away to others. This act of giving helps him feel purposeful and good about himself.
His best friends at Dogwood are: Mary, Jeanne, Tam, Andy and Calvin the dog!