Glenn Mark Hassebrock

Glenn Mark Hassebrock was born on November 19, 1937 to Laura and Carl Hassebrock in Taylor, North Dakota. He was the third of six children. When Glenn was four the family moved to Enumclaw, Washington where Glenn attended elementary and junior high school. Glenn shared memories of playing in the creek behind the house with his brothers and stripping cascara bark for money. He talked of leaving the house in the morning, spending the entire day in the woods with his brothers and coming back at dark. Always a hard worker, Glenn contributed to the family income by picking berries in the summer.
In 1953 the family moved to Whatcom County. Glenn and his siblings continued to supplement the family income by working in the fields, harvesting a variety of crops. In high school Glenn worked for a dairy farmer, milking cows and mucking stalls before and after school. With his earnings, he was able to purchase the first of many vehicles (many, many vehicles).
Recruiters from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard visited his school during his senior year with information about apprenticeship opportunities. Glenn took the qualifying test with his friend Ted, and in July of 1956, after graduating from Ferndale High School, he received a letter of acceptance to the apprenticeship program. He moved to Bremerton later that summer and started his apprenticeship as a pipefitter. Glenn graduated in 1960 and as a journeyman pipefitter worked on a number of US Navy aircraft carriers.
Glenn served in the Air National Guard of Washington and the Reserve of the United States Air Force in Bellingham from 1958 to 1962.
In December 1961 Glenn married Betty Lou Willems, also a Ferndale High graduate. Karen, their first child, was born in 1962 followed by Mark in 1965 and Kristi in 1966. The young family lived in an 8 by 32 foot Nashua trailer that Glenn moved to Sunnyslope from Bremerton. Glenn remodeled his older sister’s home in exchange for the Sunnyslope property. When Karen was a baby, he started building an addition to the trailer, block by block. The new daylight basement, living room and master bedroom were completed after Kristi was born. An interesting feature in the home was an elevator designed and built by Glenn; he felt stairs were dangerous.
After being RIF’d from PSNS in 1968, Glenn found a position with the US Navy Supervisor of Ship Building, known as SupShips, located on Harbor Island in Seattle at Lockheed Shipbuilding. At Lockheed he inspected ships that were being built for the US Navy. He was involved with development of the Plainview, the world’s largest hydrofoil at that time. He was on board the Plainview on its first foil-borne run.
The commute to Harbor Island (and later Sand Point) was extremely time consuming. When positions at PSNS opened in 1971 he applied and returned as a quality assurance administrator. In 1972, with the shorter commute, Glenn said, “Because I have so much spare time, I’ve decided to build a house”. The project began with building a driveway to the construction site and clearing the land. In July of 1973, the family moved 800 feet west on the Sunnylope property into the house where he would live the rest of his life.
Glenn continued to work at PSNS until he retired in 1992 at age 55. During those years he rose to the top levels of submarine overhaul project administration. He retired at his earliest opportunity to spend time with family and to do the things he loved doing.
Throughout his life Glenn enjoyed many interests, including bird hunting, fishing, golfing, bowling, clamming and camping with his family. In 1992 he embraced his new role as Grandpa, which he cherished each day. With Betty, he enjoyed sharing their life interests with all seven grandchildren. Glenn and Betty attended countless concerts, plays, sporting events, award ceremonies and milestones in love and support of their grandchildren.
Glenn was happiest when he was busy with a project and was very generous with his time and skills. He was always willing to help out friends and relatives when there was work to be done, whether it was putting up hay, pouring cement, or remodeling a bathroom. Glenn lived each day fully and at the end he told Betty he had no regrets.
Survivors include his wife – Betty, 3 children – Karen (Francis) Spellman & Mark (Shannon) Hassebrock of Port Orchard and Kristi (Jeff) Ehlers of Bellingham, 2 sisters – Glorian (Bob) Hubbard of Ojai, CA & Joyce Petterson of Kirkland, a brother – Jim (Bobbie) Hassebrock of Port Orchard, 7 grandchildren – Daniel, Kaitlyn, Alyssa, Jessica, Jonathan, Berkley & Jacob.
Memorial donations can be sent to a local hospice organization of choice.