GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Saturday marked 10 years since Col. Ralph Hauenstein died at 103 years old. The colonel, as his family calls him, lived not only a long life, but also a full one.
He was a veteran, an entrepreneur and a philanthropist. But more than that, he was widely regarded as a humble everyman who put his principles before profits and a person that the people of West Michigan could be proud to call their own.
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While firmly rooted in Grand Rapids, Hauenstein is not a West Michigan native. He was born in 1912 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His family moved to Michigan when he was 12.
Hauenstein went to Central High School, where he ran track and played football for the Rams. He even faced off against future president and close friend Gerald R. Ford, who starred at South High School…